More single parents in Denmark than ever before

More than every fifth home with children has just one adult provider

More Danish parents than ever before live alone with their children, according to new figures from the national statistics keeper Danmarks Statistik.

Every fifth home with children has just one adult provider – a 8 percent rise in the last six years. Experts blame the development on Denmark becoming a society that focuses on the individual.

“We want to realise ourselves and therefore don’t want to compromise too much in our lives,” Per Schultz Jørgensen, a family researcher who is former head of the children’s council Børnerådet, told DR Nyheder.

“It could be our careers or cultural interests. But it can also be a wish to just be ourselves and not just accept things.”

READ MORE: The fairly odd parents: Are Danes world leaders or poor breeders?

Alone and stressed
In 2010, 153,939 homes in Denmark had a single parent with one or more children. This year, that figure has shot up to 166,905.

But going it alone isn’t always a walk in the park, and figures from the health authority Sundhedsstyrelsen reveal that single parents experience higher stress levels.

The figures showed that 17.7 percent of married people had high stress levels, compared to 27.1 percent of single parents who are either divorced or separated.

 

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