Single parent
In the United States, 83% of single parents are mothers. Among this percentage of single mothers: 45% of single mothers are currently divorced or separated, 1.7% are widowed, 34% of single mothers never have been married. Although decades ago, having a child outside of marriage and/or being a single mother was not prominent. Census information from 1960 tells us that in that year, only nine percent of children lived in single parent families. Today four out of every ten children are born to an unwed mother.
Women in the United States Virgin Islands
According to "Countries and Their Culture" there was a ratio of 1 in 3 households where the head of the family is a "single female parent", which is perhaps to an increasing rate of "unmarried teenage" pregnancies. In 1995, census data showed that there were 34% of "unmarried females" with at least an average of 2 children per family. Caring for infants is traditionally the responsibility of U.S. Virgin Islands women, which involves providing breastfeeding "supplemented by formula given in bottles"; and - in traditional households that hold on to folk beliefs - the mother would usually give the infant "bush tea" to induce sleep.