How Broken Homes and Complicated Families Can Result In Teenage Pregnacy Families are the bedrock of the society, when families fall apart, society falls into social and cultural decline. Ultimately, the breakdown of every family is the root of nearly every other social problem and pathology. The moral function of a society erodes as children, learn the savage value of streets rather than the civilized value of culture (Anderson, 2005). A few decades ago, most Nigerian children, grew up intact to two-point families but today, children who do so are a minority. Illegitimacy, divorce and other lifestyle choices have radically altered the family and thus have altered the social landscape. Karl Zinsmrister of the American Enterprise Institute has said that, �there is a mountain of scientific evidence showing that when families disintegrates, children often end up with intellectual, physical and emotional scares that persist of life. Broken homes are not only the reason for so many social problems, but they are also the reason for the incumbent economic difficulties we face as a culture. Daniel Yankelorich, a sociologist, puts it this way that: Americans suspect that the nation�s economic difficulties are rooted not in technical economic forces (for example, exchange rates, or capital formation) but in fundamental moral causes. There exists, a deeply initiative sense that the success of a market-based economy depends on the highly developed social maturity ,trust worthiness, honesty, concern for future generation, an ethic of service to others, a humane society that takes care of those in need, fragility instead of greed high standards of quality and concern for community. Almost every year, there is a rapid increase on the number of teenage pregnancy which is a major problem caused by teenagers who grew up in broken homes. Parents either father or mothers of the youths choose to leave their children behind because of the fact that they cannot handle anymore their obligation as parents. In relation to this problem, the government is now working on the Reproductive Health Bill (RHBILL) as one of the effective solution not only to pregnant teenagers but also the increasing population of the world. As a single parent (mom) raising children in this era is a difficult task for couples and it brings greater challenges when it is done by a single parent. This aspect explores the emotional, psychological and financial aspects of raising the child as a single parent as well as the main reasons why. This in turn will review the consequences and causes which affect children, parents and the entire families. Deball (2008) stated that the absence of a father in a child�s home, the most consequential trend of time leads to social disasters. Golden burg (2005) states that a dysfunctional family, by definition has failed to fulfill its purpose of nurturing the growth of its members single-parent families are more common in today�s society and are usually referred to as a broken home or dysfunctional family. Single-parent families have doubled since 1970 and are rapidly increasing. According to the U.S. census Bureau, about 31percent of American families are headed by only one parent. As the divorce rate in the United States climbs to nearly 50 percent, fathers seem to be disappearing from their daughters lives. Research shows that girls and young women who have an unstable father figure are more liable to unplanned pregnancy, low-self esteem, high school and college dropout, poverty, divorce and sexually promiscuous behavior. It is a common knowledge that the United States has the highest rate of teen pregnancy. Evidence supporting this trend is extensive. According to Rachel Nowak�s article titled� absent fathers linked to teenage pregnancies, �unintended pregnancies seem to be linked with father absence. She goes further to say that, �a team led by psychologist, Bruce Ellis followed more than 700 girls (in New Zealand and the U.S.) from preschool to age 17 or 18, monitoring 10 different aspects of their lives including family income, behavioural problems, exposure to violence and parenting styles. They confirmed that teenage girls raised without fathers are more likely to suffer from depression and suffer other behavioural problems. These traits suggest that the girl may be prone to sexually promiscuous behavior, which thus, spikes teenage pregnancy rate in the world. Depending on the age, fathers who leave their daughters may leave them with emotional wounds that can manifest in promiscuous behavior. Franklin B. Krohn and Zoe Bogan examine this behavior trait that is associated with fatherless girls. They noted that �females without father figures often become desperate for male attention, they acquire more physical contact with boys their age than girls from intact homes, they constantly seek refuge for their missing fathers as a result, there is a constant need to be accepted by men from whom they aggressively seek attention (Bogan and Krohan) all these is as a result of broken homes. In many broken homes, the proper and adequate training which should have been given to the children by both parents are now haphazardly done. Ogunade (2009) concurred that broken homes, is more likely to produce a teenage mother. Most of the single parents keep boyfriends and so openly to the knowledge of their children especially daughters. Single parents, most of whom are women, find it increasingly difficult to cope with the stress of raising their children alone. Basey, a divorcee told Igiebor (1987) in an interview on teenage pregnancy that sometimes you get so fed up with a child�s naughtiness and just fold your arms. She added that the emotional stress is too much for one parent to bear.
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