Title: Struggling Alone in the City: How Single Parents Navigate Education and Upkeep of Children in Urban Environments in Uganda
Authors: Kukundakwe Rebecca, Asingwire Richard, Mugisa James, Kisembo John, Anumaka Ijeoma, Businge Janice
Volume: 9
Issue: 9
Pages: 31-33
Publication Date: 2025/09/28
Abstract:
Single-parent households in large cities face intersecting challenges that negatively affect children's educational outcomes and household wellbeing. Economic precarity, unaffordable housing and childcare, precarious employment, and limited social support networks create barriers to school attendance, learning support at home, and access to enrichment activities. This review synthesizes international empirical and review literature to identify major stressors, mediating mechanisms, and promising policy and program responses. Using an ecological theoretical lens (Bronfenbrenner) integrated with social capital and resilience frameworks, we show how macro (policy, labor markets), meso (neighborhoods, schools), and micro (household resources, parental stress) factors interact to shape educational trajectories of children raised by single parents in cities. Policy recommendations include targeted income supports, affordable childcare and housing, school-based wraparound services, and employer flexibility.