Does Single Parenting Negatively Influence Academic Achievement?

Socioeconomic Status

• Nearly half of all children who live with a single mother in the U.S. are poor, according to an April 2013 article on the Women in the World Foundation website. Many of those mothers are poor because they don̵7;t receive adequate child support, and although they may receive benefits from Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, most single mothers work in low-wage jobs, often just above the poverty line. Low socioeconomic status is independently correlated with lower academic achievement, according to the American Psychological Association.

Father Absent Homes

• The majority of single parent homes are those headed by a mother -- called ̶0;father absent̶1; homes by a February 2012 article in the ̶0;The Hilltop Review,̶1; from the University of Michigan. Children from such homes often struggled academically, possibly because key objects or conditions were not available to them. Among these were books in the home, regular subscriptions to magazines and newspapers, electronic media such as a computer and one̵7;s own room. All of these could be related to family income rather than whether only one parent was present in the home. Despite these disadvantages, 70 percent of children from a father absent home graduate from high school and 50 percent attend college, according to the "The Hilltop Review" article.

Risk and Protective Factors

• Children raised by single parents are affected by both risk factors and protective factors, which have an impact on academic achievement, according to an article on Adoption.com. Some of these factors are internal, such as a child̵7;s personality, while others include social support, family structure and income, parenting style and the presence of substance abuse or mental illness in the home. Risk is cumulative; a child from a family with several siblings close in age who lives in poverty is at higher risk of academic failure than a single child in a higher-income home.

Family Strengths

• Although socioeconomic factors and the presence or absence of a parent affect the ultimate outcome, the strengths and protections of the family are the most important factor in academic achievement, according to Adoption.com. A family in which a child has strong social support at home and school, positive parental mental health and low rates of criticism from the parent is more likely to do well academically, particularly if there are other protective factors, such as good parenting strategies and high self-esteem in the child. Parents who are warm, firm and actively involved in their children̵7;s lives can help promote academic achievement despite the risk factors associated with single parenthood.