When
it comes to parents, quality is more important than quantity. Because new
research out of the UK shows that kids who grow up with a single parent or
step-parent think of themselves as no less happy than kids who grow up with
their biological mom and dad.
Researchers
from UK’s NatCen Social Research analyzed data from almost 13,000 children and
found that children’s stated happiness had no correlation to their family
structure. 36% of 7-year olds said they were “happy all the time” and 64% said
they were happy “sometimes or never,” regardless of whether they were raised by
two biological parents or one. This result stayed the same even when
researchers controlled for social class.
Instead,
relationships with family members and friendships at school were the main
predictors of kids’ happiness or unhappiness, and factors such as fights or
bullying had a much larger affect on kid’s stated happiness than how many
parents they had.
But
other research has shown that kids in single-parent homes may be more likely to
become incarcerated or drop out of school, so maybe happiness isn’t everything.
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