David Burton, Civic Communications Specialist; Source: Janice Emery, 4-H Youth Development Specialist, University of Missouri Extension
The term latchkey kid refers to a child who returns from school to an empty home because their parent(s) are away at work or because they are living in a single parent home. Latchkey kids surged from the 1970’s to the early 1990’s due to economic changes that required two incomes to get by and societal changes where an increased divorce rate created more single parent homes.
“Now the generation of latchkey kids are parents themselves. Many generation X’ers over-compensate for their latchkey upbringing by being a helicopter parent,” said Janice Emery, 4-H youth development specialist with the University of Missouri Extension…
To learn why it is important to find the middle ground between these parenting styles, see the full article at http://missourifamilies.org/features/parentingarticles/parenting106.htm
