Is Marital Status Important in Child's Upbringing?

After an online petition by a group, Unmarried Equality, on change.org to recognize the rights of unmarried parents to raise their children, question have been raised on how far does a parent's marital status play a role in their upbringing.

The group wants the American Academy of Pediatrics to change their statement on unmarried parents that says that marriage gives optimal legal and social protection for bringing up children and the couples who wish to marry should not have any problems to do so no matter what gender they belong.

According to the group, unmarried parents are just as capable of taking care of their children and providing proper shelter to the kids as married couples. According to a study, nearly 35 percent of children are raised by single parents.

Susan Brown, sociology professor and co-director of the National Center for Family and Marriage Research at Bowling Green State University, Ohio, explained that although previous researches have shown that children raised by two biological married parents are better compared to those raised by single parents, however, she notes that the differences are small and vary according to the different styles of upbringing.

Unmarried parents often face financial problem. "There seems to be mounting evidence that family instability, as opposed to family structure itself, is particularly detrimental to children," she said.

Marriage provides financial and legal protections to the family, asserts Dr Benjamin Siegel, a pediatrician at Boston Medical Center and chair of the AAP Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family Health. "Anyone who is (not married and) raising a child should develop a legal mechanism so that person has a legal relationship to the child, whether it's adoption or guardianship," he added.