The increased incidence of single-mothers : a change in values ?

Abstract

Studies regarding family issues have always been a priority among the Maltese people. Usually, family studies take into consideration the kind of family consisting of a mother, a father, and their children. This time the interest has shifted to single-parent families, more precisely to unmarried single-mother families. The interest in unmarried single-mother families arose because the researcher considers such mothers as doing a singular job; raising a child single-handedly which is very different from sharing such a burden with a partner. However, the most interesting factor to the researcher was the actual cause of the drastic increase of unmarried single-mother families. The aim of this research is to see whether such an increase is caused by a change in values. Consequently, qualitative interviews with sixteen unmarried single-mothers have been conducted to analyse their social situation.