National Single Parent Day (Single Parents’ Day) Date in the current year: March 21, 2024

A single parent is a parent who has a child or children and raises them without the support of a spouse or live-in partner. Historically, the main reason for single parenthood was becoming widowed. However, most people didn’t stay single parents for long because they tended to remarry quickly following the death of a spouse.

In the modern world, there are many reasons for becoming a single parent, such as divorce or break-up with a partner, widowhood, abandonment, domestic violence, childbirth by a single person, or single-person adoption. A single parent may receive financial support from the other parent, but the task of providing day-to-day care of the child or children falls on their shoulders alone.

According to a 2019 study, the United States has the world’s highest rate of single parent families; almost a quarter of the country’s underage children live with one parent and no other adults. National Single Parent Day originated in the United States in the 1980s. The celebration was initiated by Janice Moglen, who wrote an article about it hoping that one day Single Parent Day would gain the same recognition as Mother’s Day and Father’s Day.

Moglen then teamed up with Parents Without Partners, a support group for single parents and their children, to have Single Parent Day recognized officially. They chose the date of March 21 for the holiday to commemorate the founding anniversary of Parents Without Partners, which was established on this day in 1957.

Their campaign bore its fruit: in 1984, the Congress designated March 21, 1984 as National Single Parent Day, and President Ronald Reagan issued a proclamation calling upon Americans to observe the day with appropriate activities and ceremonies. Although it originated as a one-off observance, single parents and single parents organizations across the nation has continued to celebrate National Single Parent Day every year.

In 2018, National Single Parent Day crossed the ocean and was celebrated in the United Kingdom for the first time as Single Parents’ Day. It is supported and promoted by Gingerbread and other charities working with single parent families.

The main goals of National Single Parent Day are to bring attention to the efforts and achievements of millions of single parents around the globe, honor their hard work and sacrifice, celebrate their ability to juggle family life, work and other responsibilities, highlight their resilience and strength, and raise awareness of the importance of a good support network.

How can you celebrate National Single Parent Day? If you’re a single parent, you can share your experiences to show other single parents that they are not alone in their struggles, join a single parent support group, and thank the people from your support network for everything they do for you. If you know a single parent or parents, reach out to them to let them know what a great job they are doing and show your support and appreciation.

Other ways to get involved Single Parents’ Day include donating to a nonprofit that supports single parent families, hosting a fundraiser to help single parents in your community or company, and spreading the word on social media with the hashtags #NationalSingleParentDay and #SingleParentsDay.