Asian Social Work Journal (ASWJ), e-ISSN: 0128-1577 Volume 8, Issue4, e00252, 2023 DOI: https://doi.org/10.47405/aswj.v8i4.252 © 2023 by the authors. Published by Secholian Publication. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY). Students From Single-Parent Households: Their Issues & Challenges Syarifah Rohaniah Syed Mahmood 1* , Naomi Sangeetha 2 1,2 Department of Educational Psychology and Counseling, International Islamic University Malaysia, Malaysia. *Corresponding author: Syarifah Rohaniah Syed Mahmood (rohaniah@iium.edu.my) ABSTRACT Single parenthood has been predicted as one of the causes of poor academic performance among school students. Most studies in Western countries reported that children of single-mother and single-father families perform academically lower than children of two-parent families. A phenomenological method of inquiry and analysis was used to explain the challenges and issues faced by students from single-parent households. In-depth interviews were conducted with five secondary school students at Klang Valley. The findings revealed that the students experienced five types of challenges: lack of parental guidance, grief of losing a parent, conflict between divorced parents, financial constraint, and societal perception. In overcoming the challenges, five strategies, which are talking to someone, listening to music, expressive writing, becoming more independent and feeling grateful were employed. Keywords: challenges, issues, single-parent households 1. Introduction A single-parent household consists of a father or a mother and a child or children resulting from divorce, loss of a parent, unmarried parent, separation, or abandonment (Azar, Naughton & Joseph, 2009). Single-parent household is an increasing phenomenon in modern society. There are a variety of reasons for the increasing number of single-parent households. In general, the high rate of divorce and non-marital childrearing has contributed to this phenomenon (Amato, Patterson & Beattie, 2015). A large number of research in Western countries documented the relationship between parental divorce, single parenthood, and negative effects towards children. Compared to children living with both parents, children living with a single parent have been viewed as underprivileged in academic performance and emotional, behavioural, and psychological development (Awino et al., 2022; Bago, 2022; Adegboyega, 2019; Musa & Dosunmu, 2022; Hawkins, 2020). Fotoh (2021) concluded that children who experienced separation, divorce, or the death of a parent do not perform well or do not achieve academically. In relation to this scenario, there is a need to explore issues and challenges faced by secondary students from single-parent households that contribute to their poor academic performance.