‘Unmarried parents no hindrance to children’

Children do not fare any worse in life if their parents are unmarried — their outcomes are much more influenced by their mother’s educational and employment background.

The research — carried out at the University of Limerick using data from the Growing Up in Ireland project — found that children of married and unmarried parents will develop similarly when their mothers are similarly educated and have equal and ready access to resources for her children.

Published yesterday by the Family Support Agency, the research also found that children’s educational outcomes, and particularly their maths grades, improved substantially when their mother’s came from a more “privileged” socio- economic background.

According to the lead researcher on the project, Carmel Hannan, who is based at UL, “marriage is not the answer to child disadvantage; rather better educated and better resourced parents make for better educated, healthier and happier children”.

“Once socio-economic background differences between mothers are taken into account, the association between negative child outcomes and living in a one-parent or cohabiting family is substantially reduced,” said Dr Hannan.

Outcomes for the children was measured in terms of educational achievement, general wellbeing, diet, number of hospital visits, and their self-confessed happiness scores.

The research showed that the majority of mothers who give birth outside of marriage come from impoverished backgrounds and 58.5% of these women were under 25 when they had their child.

Only 13% of married mothers gave birth before the age of 25. Children from one-parent and cohabiting families are also more likely to be attending a disadvantaged — DEIS — school.

The research also showed marriage was more common amongst older, more educated and more religious women.

One Family CEO Karen Kiernan said: “This study confirms that it is not the legal structure of a family that is important to a child’s well-being but the substance of the family and the relationships within it.

“However, lone parents in Ireland continue to experience the highest rates of poverty and it is impoverishment that is proven to adversely affect a child’s future.”