Children raised by single mothers are achieving less because of lower income, study finds

Research has significant consequences for those drawing up government policies

The study, published in the journal Child Development, discredits the notion children of single mothers might go on to have poor attainment because of parenting skills (Rex)

Lower income and resources are almost entirely to blame for lower attainment levels seen in children raised by a single mother, a new study found.

Researchers at the universities of Bristol, Bath and the Universidad de Alcala in Spain found children living with a single mother had lower incomes and were less likely to live in owner-occupied housing than those whose parents did not break up.

The study, published in the journal Child Development, discredits the notion children of single mothers might go on to have poor attainment because of parenting skills.

Researchers found scant differences in the parenting habits of single mothers and parents who are in a couple – discovering this factor could not be used to elucidate variations in children’s achievements.

The report, which has significant consequences for those drawing up government policies, indicates giving single mothers, especially those with very young children, more financial support would tackle the achievement gulf.

Susan Harkness, who led the research and is professor of public policy at the University of Bristol, said: “Our study shows that almost all of the relationships between single motherhood and negative consequences for children’s cognitive attainment can be explained by families’ reduced economic circumstances.

“Although single motherhood has become much more common in the UK, deficits associated with parenting – as opposed to reduced economic circumstances – have all but disappeared over the last 40 years.”​

Researchers found children who lived with a single mother before age 11 had lower verbal ability than children whose parents remained in a relationship.

The cognitive capacity of children is closely linked to a variety of consequences later in life which relate to salaries, crime, mental health, substance abuse and whether they ditch school.

Single motherhood was found to have a detrimental impact on children’s attainment due to shrinking the financial resources which they can access.

The study utilised data from three large, nationally representative studies of British children born in 1958, 1970, and 2000, each with information on more than 10,000 children.

The proportion of children in Britain living in homes headed by a single mother has increased over the last 60 years. Between 1971 and 1998, the number of children in single parent families tripled from seven per cent to 22 per cent before becoming steady.

The study found few differences in how single- and two-parent families carried out parenting for children born in 2000 but this was not found to be the situation for those born in 1958.

Laura Dewar, policy officer at single parent charity Gingerbread, said: “At Gingerbread we know that single parents are disproportionately affected by financial struggles, with almost half of single parent families living in poverty.

“A recent study from us and Sheffield University showed that a child’s wellbeing isn’t negatively impacted by being raised in a single parent household - the issue here is one of income.

“It simply isn’t fair that hard working single parents and their children are disadvantaged by financial circumstances outside of their control.”

The charity notes there are around 1.8 million single parents in the UK and around 90 per cent of single parents are women.

A quarter of young mothers in the UK are skipping meals every day to provide for their children, a study by Young Women’s Trust found.

The research, published in June, surveyed 520 mothers between the ages of 18 and 30 about finances, employment, social networks, stigma, childcare and employment support.