Single Parenting in Kazakhstan

This study presents a sociological analysis of different aspects of everyday life of single-parent families in a large city of Kazakhstan. The article focuses mainly on the formation of a model of social and economic adaptation of a Kazakhstani single-parent family, explaining how a single parent organizes and combines family life and child raising with his/her work and provision of economic independence of his/her family. In Kazakhstan, as in many other countries, one can observe increase in the number of single parents, which actualizes research interest in this family type. This paper presents findings of a study aimed at exploring life within single-parent families, strategies for their survival, and related problems, which was carried out using qualitative methodology advantages. In addition to a number of typical reasons for the emergence of single-parent families, which largely include divorces, unwillingness of partners to create a family, and the planned pregnancy for the purpose of giving birth to children outside of marriage, the phenomenon of unofficial marriage, concluded only as a result of religious ritual, is typical for Kazakhstan.

Studies consistently demonstrate that single mothers are in a rather unfavorable economic situation, which is aggravated by the economic crisis in the present-day Kazakh society. Extended families and informal social ties are the most important source of economic, emotional and psychological support for this type of family in Kazakhstan.