Children of Single Mothers Have Poor Health

Single parenting affects children's health, a latest study claims.

The research conducted by Cornell demographers showed that the children of single mothers have poor health.

The researchers observed data from the 1979 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth that involved information of mothers and their children, who were a nationally representative group of people between the ages of 14 and 22 at the start of the study.

They compared another set of 704 children that had single mothers and 1,299 children born to married mothers.

The study results showed that the teenagers who had unmarried mothers had similar health when compared to teenagers born to mothers who were divorced from the children's biological fathers and moved on to a live-in relationship or remarry.

"We find that marriage is no panacea for single mothers," the co-author of the study, Sharon Sassler said according to Medical Xpress. Sassler is a professor of policy analysis and management in the College of Human Ecology. "When mothers marry the biological father of their child and stay married to him, children have better health, but the association is modest. But relatively few mothers fit in this category."

Sassler added, "We are seeing health disadvantages in adolescents 14 or more years after their birth to a never-married mother. These appear to be associated with cumulative stressors on the mother from having a nonmarital birth, stressors that apparently also take a toll on children themselves over a long period. That suggests that interventions earlier in childhood and focused on ensuring health coverage and regular health visits for children born in less advantaged circumstances are important."

The study was published in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior.