Mum’s schooling, not marital status, affects family

A mother’s education trumps marriage or cohabitation when it comes to the wellbeing of children, a study reveals.

Children whose mothers only have a primary education are almost five times more likely to have low reading and maths scores than children of mothers with a postgraduate education.

Such children were also almost three times more likely to have poor social- emotional adjustment and twice as likely to have a chronic illness as children whose mothers have a college education.