Community Perceptions on Single Parenting: Insights from Dodoma City, Tanzania

Abstract

Single parenting has recently become common worldwide, transcending cultural, social, and economic boundaries. The study was conducted in Dodoma city at the Chang’ombe ward to explore the community’s perceptions of single parenting. The study examined the community’s attitude and practice of single parenting. The study's sample size was 155 respondents, obtained using a systematic sampling technique. Also, purposive sampling was used to select the ward executive officer, social welfare officer, and children protection committee members as key informants. A survey method through a questionnaire was used to collect data from community members, and interviews using a checklist were used to collect data from the key informants. The quantitative data were analysed using the IBM-SPSS Statistics version 27 computer programme in which descriptive statistics (mean, frequency and percentage) were computed, and content analysis was used for qualitative data. The study found a positive attitude among most respondents, indicated by the mean score ranging from 3.7 to 4.5. The study also revealed that a parent raising a child alone is overwhelmed by parenting responsibilities. In addition, a child raised by a single parent misses the care and love of the other parent, may experience abuse, poor academic performance, get involved in lousy peer groups, moral decay, loneliness, sadness, and lack confidence and self-reliance. Moreover, the study found that the majority of the respondents experienced single parenting, which resulted from searching for employment opportunities, the death of a partner, separation, birth out of wedlock, divorce, and choice. The study recommends that local government, through social welfare officers and the police gender desk in collaboration with non-governmental organizations, should continue providing education on the negative effects of single parenting to children.