The number of single working mothers and female heads of households has risen at a steady rate during the past 25 years, according to a report released this year.

The report, entitled "Final Report of the Task Force on Women's Issues'', details "numerous issues of concern to women'' in Bermuda.

The number of women heading households increased from 5,324 in 1980 to 7,621 in 1991 when the Census was last taken. That marks an increase of 43 percent over 11 years.

With nearly half the households in Bermuda being headed by women who were raising their children on their own, The Royal Gazette talked to single working mothers to find out what role the fathers were playing in the lives of their children and what this "phenomenon'' means to the future of the family structure in Bermuda.

Susanne M. Wilkinson, a secretary for a company in Hamilton, had her son when she was 16-years-old. As a result she left school, but later completed her high school education.

She said her son's father did nothing to help support him. She said what bothered her more was the fact he did not spend any time with his son.

"He's some father,'' Ms Wilkinson said. "My son is four-years-old and his father has spent a total of four months out of four years with him, and that's not consecutive. He has never bought him a birthday present or a Christmas gift. He's been in jail for most of his life. So I support him by myself.'' Ms Wilkinson pointed out that mothers did not have the option of walking away without worrying about whether their child had something to eat or sleep.

"Nursery, food, clothes, shoes, doctor, comes from me,'' she stressed. "Love and affection and the whole nine yards comes from me.'' Ms Wilkinson said she also had future expenses to think about, like her son's college education. Having her son changed her whole way of life, she added.

But it was for the better.

"In the beginning you have nothing to care for but yourself,'' Ms Wilkinson said. "It gives you responsibility. You have someone to care for now, whereas before it was only you and what you wanted.'' She said "going out all the time'' was cut out and replaced with changing diapers and middle-of-the-night feedings. She said while she was now financially secure she could not understand why the father, or any father for that matter, would not want to take interest in his own child.

Ms Wilkinson recalled the early years of motherhood when shortly after having her son she decided to finish school by getting her General Education Diploma (GED).

She said it was not an easy experience but it was worth it in the end.

"I had to walk from Point (Spanish Point) to town carrying a newborn, no transportation, then catch the bus, get off and walk up two hills.'' In addition to all that she said she had to go home to feed her son, study and get ready for her night job. Then the next day she had to prepare to make 8.30 a.m. to school.

"Guys out here talk about they're soldiers? let them try that for a little while,'' she added.

Ms Wilkinson said she would advise any young girl thinking about having a baby to first make sure they were ready to be everything to their child.

"They need to make sure they are financially independent and don't need Social Assistance,'' she said. "Make sure you can sign papers and then you can think about it, not do it, think about it.'' Diana Wilson, 48, a retail manager, said her "tour of duty'' was almost complete as her youngest child was a senior in college aboard.

She said she was bothered by how many mothers she saw raising children alone.

"Where are the fathers? They claim they love these women right up until conception and then they disappear,'' Ms Wilson said. "I don't get it.'' She recalled that some years ago the father of her children decided he wanted to relocate abroad with her and the children.

Not wanting to uproot her children or leave her family, Ms Wilson said she told him she and the children were staying in Bermuda but he could go, convinced he would not.

"We were planning to get married, we had three children aged two, four and a 18-month-old baby. A year later he was gone,'' she said. "My children know their father but my youngest son wants nothing to do with him because he never spent any real time with him.'' She said the experience was a hurtful one. But she added the father's rejection by his children hurt him more.

"That is the price you pay when you are not there for your children,'' Ms Wilson pointed out. "They don't forget that sort of thing.'' However, Ms Wilson stressed that men were not the only ones guilty of this behaviour. She said she knew mothers who were not there for their children.

"Moreover, I know dedicated fathers who are also raising their children alone,'' she added.

One man doing just that said while he agreed most men did not help with the raising of their children, there were exceptions. And he said he believed most men wanted to take care of their children.

But, he added, most did not feel they had anything to offer.

Shawn M. Smith, 25, a tile cutter, said he has raised his four-year-old daughter, Roshunte, with no help from the mother for the past two years.

But he said his daughter did not need money from her mother.

"The early years are crucial to a child,'' Mr. Smith stressed. "She wakes up in the morning and I'm there and she sees daddy is always there.'' The young father said having his daughter changed his life and that he cut out a lot of activities after her birth.

"I was 21 when she was born, she took me off the streets and made me devote myself to a better life,'' he said. "I grew up a lot. Got a job, stopped hanging out, pack racing, fighting and all that.'' Mr. Smith also said there were many young fathers who did take care of their children. But he added that some mothers keep their children away from the fathers because they haven't paid child support. And he said that was not right.

"Should the child suffer because the father doesn't pay?,'' Mr. Smith asked.

"Just paying bills doesn't benefit a child.'' He said he wanted his daughter's mother to spend time with her so that Roshunte will grow up to be "a strong African woman''.

"Strength from both parents will help push her the right way and benefit her in reaching whatever goals she sets in life,'' Mr. Smith said. "I want to give her that foundation.'' Mr. Smith added that he devoted the majority of his time to his daughter.

"I never had anything before her. She made me settle down and get a job,'' he said. "I'm doing it for her whether it's hard or not. I still have a life but it's for her now.'' Mr. Smith stressed that more men should do the same and that women should stop making their children suffer because they were hurting.

"It's about time, men and women have to come together for the child's sake and put there differences aside for the child sake,'' he added. "I'd do anything and everything for my daughter, that's my Boo.'' DEVOTION -- Shawn Smith holds his four-year-old daughter, Roshunte, during one of her school functions. Mr. Smith said having his daughter changed his life -- for the better.