For decades, the number of children in the U.S. living with a single parent has been rising. Today, almost a quarter of U.S. kids live with one parent and no other adults.

Women head the majority of those single-parent households and shoulder proportional physical and emotional responsibilities, says Amy Rose, whose Surviving Solo Motherhood (Welbeck, Mar.) examines the effects that single mothering can have on a parent’s mental well-being. “I want readers to work through their feelings and come out feeling better about being a single mum, and feeling they are not alone,” says Rose. The book’s use of the term solo in place of single, she says, is intentional. “A lot of mums I interviewed who were [unpartnered] when they started their journey preferred the term ‘solo mother.’ ”

The book, coauthored by Emma Cotterill, belongs to a cohort of forthcoming titles that speak to the particular and growing needs of solo and single parents.

Doing It All as a Solo Parent

Daisy Dowling, series editor. Harvard Business Review, Feb.

The latest volume in the HBR Working Parents series aims to help single parents balance work and home with anecdotes and advice on shaping one’s career to fit the demands of childcare, building a robust support system, and more. The book’s intended readership includes single-by-choice, divorced, and widowed parents, as well as those whose partner is deployed or otherwise unable to help.

Moms Moving On

Michelle Dempsey-Multack. Simon Element, Mar.

This road map–cum–manifesto, named for divorce coach Dempsey-Multack’s web community, details the trials and triumphs of post-divorce mom life. Her advice covers a range of scenarios, such as court negotiations, coparenting, and building a blended family. PW’s review called it a “compassionate guide to getting back on one’s feet after a breakup.”



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Surviving Solo Motherhood

Amy Rose and Emma Cotterill. Welbeck, Mar.

Journalist Rose and clinical psychologist Cotterill focus each chapter on a different emotional state a parent may experience, such as anxiety, grief, joy, or rage. The authors share conversations with single mothers from various backgrounds and offer psychological support and coping tools.


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