The number of single mothers has been on a steady rise over the past decades. According to a recent press release by the U.S. Census Bureau, there were 9.88 million single mothers in the U.S. in 2007, which is up from 3.4 million in 1970.

Law makers in Tennessee are in a heated debate whether shared custody in divorces that involve children can be a common solution to deicide custody cases in the best interest of children. At the center of the discussion is the question whether it is reasonable that mothers are generally favored by courts to receive (full) custody of their children.

A new report from the Census Bureau confirms a long standing cliché – that kids growing up in single parent families generally do not perform as well in school as kids who grow up in a traditional two-parent family environment. But the gap isn’t substantial, at least as far as divorced families are concerned. In fact, the challenge of keeping teenagers on track in school is by far greater.

If we believe a new report published by the Family and Parenting Institute (FPI), today’s common structure of a happy family may be on its way out. The report focuses on families in the UK, but the outlined trend certainly applies to Americans as well.

A few days left to Thanksgiving and Black Friday. Time to think about Christmas and checking your bank account how far it will go. It is also a time to reflect how your year was, what went well and what did not. For many single parents, the holiday season can be a rough time, balancing the fact that you will not see your children on days you used to and figuring out ways to cope with the pressure of buying Christmas presents. Here are nine tips to help you readjust and reduce stress.

Managing your divorce and custody is most likely one of the most difficult tasks in your life. What you want, what you need and what you eventually settle for are, in most cases, three entirely different things. Every divorce is unique and while it is generally best to avoid expensive lawyers, you may not be able to settle out of court, especially if you are in a highly hostile divorce in which one or both parties aren’t willing to compromise.

The obvious conclusion in such a scenario is that you would go to war and fight. You may have a good reason to. But you need to be aware of the consequences of such a decision and you may want to look at some alternatives. Single Parent Gossip has some food for thought.

Teaching your child respect for others is among the most difficult tasks you will encounter in parenthood. It is hard enough to go through this lesson in a traditional family environment, but it gets even more complicated in single parent families. A struggle with what we perceive to be a lack of respect in our children is a growing problem these days – not just for single parents, but for children as well.

And if you are among those who do not know how to answer disrespect and even feel helpless at times, you may not like to hear that there is a good chance that the origin of this disrespect can be traced back to not so great decisions you have made in the past. However, the good news is that most cases of disrespect in children have a common foundation and there are ways you can work with your child.

For many kids, Halloween is one of the most important holidays of the year. The child of divorce is faced with choices and concerns. Who will take me treat-or-treating? Who will get my costume and dress me? Where will I trick-or-treat?

Last week, we ran an article about what you absolutely should not say to your children during a divorce. That advice, of course, has another side: There are things that you should tell your children during a divorce. Divorce is a time of confusion for your children, they are upset and they need your help to get through this difficult phase of their life, no matter how hurt or desperate you are.

Be realistic: It will be a difficult conversation and you need to be prepared as much as you can. Make sure your children are the first ones to know about the separation. They should not learn about it from others. When you first talk to them, set enough time aside and create a calm setting, with both parents being present. You need to limit your discussion to the most pressing topics. Do not overwhelm them with information.

Divorce is a time of monumental emotional pain and hardship, a time in which we need support of others to find our way back on track and go on with our life. Yet you can never forget the promise you have given your children when you brought them into this world. You still need to be the best parent you can be and follow some rules to avoid more pain.

One of the most critical ones are phrases you should say to them and things you can think of but definitely can’t say. Here are ten things you should never say to your children during a divorce.

Maybe you’ve heard, but in case you haven’t, there is a relatively new trend in resolving family disputes calledCollaborative Family Law (CFL). Where traditional divorce litigation tends to be adversarial and focused on producing a winner and a loser, Collaborative Law is designed specifically to keep parties out of court and to reach consensus on a fair settlement.

One of the keys to the Collaborative process is that both parties and their attorneys agree not to go to court. In fact, the attorneys agree that if either client does end up deciding to go to court, both attorneys will with withdraw requiring their clients to retain completely new representation. This leaves clients with the option to go to court, if they determine that the process won’t work for them, but it motivates the attorneys to prevent that from happening by working toward an acceptable settlement.

Managing the day-to-day logistics of parenting is a ginormous feat. And, when those logistics have to be coordinated between two households, it can even seem insurmountable and can lead to conflict between co-parents.

Fortunately, in this age of all things 2.0, there are a variety of online services and software designed specifically to aid separated and divorced parents with managing schedules and communicating other important details of their children’s lives.