Children’s Outcomes Married vs Unmarried
1. Education
| Outcome | Two-parent household | Single-parent household | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Received a high-school diploma | 90.9% | 87.9% | NCES, HSLS:09 |
| Dropped out of high school | 3.1% | 4.0% | NCES, HSLS:09 |
| GED or other equivalency | 2.3% | 3.9% | NCES, HSLS:09 |
These are nationally representative results for students who entered ninth grade in 2009, measured in 2013. However, NCES defines the groups as “two or more parents/guardians” and “single parent/guardian”; it does not specifically identify married parents in this table. NCES High School Longitudinal Study
2. Economic stability
| Outcome, 2024 | Married-couple family | Female householder, no spouse | Male householder, no spouse |
|---|---|---|---|
| Children under 18 living in poverty | 6.0% | 35.8% | 16.3% |
| Children under 6 living in poverty | 6.4% | 46.0% | 20.3% |
| Overall family poverty rate | 4.3% | 21.8% | 11.0% |
These figures come from the Census Bureau’s 2025 Current Population Survey supplement, reporting 2024 income and poverty. U.S. Census Bureau poverty report
Children in female-headed families with no spouse present experienced poverty at nearly six times the rate of children in married-couple families in 2024: 35.8% compared with 6.0%.
3. Parental employment and basic needs
| Outcome, 2021 | Two married parents | Single father | Single mother |
|---|---|---|---|
| At least one parent worked year-round, full-time | 88% | 69% | 48% |
Among children whose parents or guardians were married, 8% lived in food-insecure households in 2021, compared with 13% of all children. The federal report does not provide an equivalent single-parent percentage in that summary, so we should not manufacture one. Federal Interagency Forum, America’s Children 2023
4. Health and emotional well-being
Child health outcomes, 2003
| Outcome | Two biological parents | Single mother | Married stepfamily |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall health rated excellent or very good | 87.3% | 76.7% | 84.6% |
| Moderate or severe emotional, behavioral, or concentration difficulties | 5.7% | 13.2% | 14.4% |
| Emotional, developmental, or behavioral problem requiring ongoing treatment | 2.9% | 7.2% | 8.4% |
| Parent reported child had depression or anxiety | 2.4% | 6.2% | 6.6% |
| Parent reported behavioral or conduct problems | 2.6% | 8.1% | 9.1% |
| Child had special health-care needs | 15.0% | 20.6% | 22.4% |
These estimates come from the nationally representative 2003 National Survey of Children’s Health. “Two biological parents” refers to two biological parents living in the home; the survey did not establish whether they were married or cohabiting.
After researchers adjusted for income, parental education, household size, race, age, and other demographic differences, several disparities remained. For example:
- Moderate or severe emotional/behavioral difficulties: 6.5% with two biological parents versus 11.4% with a single mother.
- A problem requiring ongoing treatment: 3.3% versus 6.5%.
- Depression or anxiety: 2.7% versus 6.0%.
- Behavioral or conduct problems: 3.2% versus 6.3%.
Source: CDC/National Center for Health Statistics researchers’ analysis of the National Survey of Children’s Health, published in Health Affairs. Family Structure and Children’s Physical and Mental Health
Plain-language takeaway:
Children living with two biological parents generally had better physical and emotional health outcomes. Income and other circumstances explained part—but not all—of the differences.
Important qualification: This study cannot prove that family structure alone caused the health differences. It also found that children living with single fathers had outcomes comparable to—or sometimes better than—children living with two biological parents after demographic adjustments.
5. Risk behaviors
Unlike poverty and employment, CDC and other federal agencies do not regularly publish one national table comparing every risk behavior by parents’ marital status. The strongest available evidence comes from longitudinal studies using nationally representative government-sponsored surveys.
Alcohol use during adolescence
| Family structure | Adolescents who reported alcohol use |
|---|---|
| Two married biological parents | 43% |
| Single-mother family | 47% |
| Married stepfamily | 52% |
| Cohabiting stepfamily | 58% |
The study used nationally representative Add Health data. It found that differences in parenting practices and family relationships explained some—but not all—of the association between family structure and alcohol use.
Source: Susan L. Brown and colleagues, using the federally sponsored National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health. Family Structure, Family Processes, and Adolescent Smoking and Drinking
Initiation of illicit drug use
| Family structure | Youth who reported initiating illicit drug use |
|---|---|
| Living with both parents | 21% |
| Living with a single mother | 29% |
This study involved urban adolescents and therefore should not be presented as a national estimate.
Source: Peer-reviewed analysis of family structure and substance-use initiation. Variation in Family Structure and Adolescent Substance Use
Incarceration among young men
A longitudinal study following males from adolescence into adulthood found:
- 7.5% of the overall study population had been incarcerated.
- Approximately 13% of young men who lived in non-intact families during adolescence had been incarcerated.
- Young men in father-absent households continued to have elevated incarceration risk after accounting for poverty, parental education, teen motherhood, race, and other background factors.
- The highest estimated risks were found in stepfamilies, particularly father-stepmother households.
The study included 2,846 young men who were minors when first observed and followed incarceration outcomes from approximately ages 15 through 30.
Source: National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, administered by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Office of Justice Programs study summary
Plain-language takeaway:
Adolescents living with both biological, married parents generally reported lower substance use and lower incarceration risk. Family income, parental supervision, relationships, neighborhood conditions, and household stability help explain these differences.
This section does not say “single-parent homes cause crime.” Most young people from single-parent families do not engage in serious delinquency or become incarcerated.
6. Adult outcomes
One of the strongest recent studies connected Census records, federal tax records, and Social Security Administration records for more than 5 million U.S. children born from 1988 through 1993. Researchers compared siblings who experienced different amounts of childhood exposure to the same parental divorce.
Outcomes associated with parental divorce during early childhood
| Adult or long-term outcome | Estimated difference |
|---|---|
| Earnings at age 27 | Approximately 13% lower |
| Position in the income distribution at age 27 | 3.9 percentile points lower |
| Living on a college campus | Approximately 4 percentage points lower |
| Teen birth | 0.9 percentage point higher |
| Incarceration | 0.2 percentage point higher |
| Mortality by age 25 | 0.39 percentage point higher |
“Early childhood divorce” means parental divorce occurring when the child was approximately age 5 or younger. The estimated effects were much smaller when divorce occurred after the child reached adulthood.
Additional findings
- In the years immediately following parental divorce, teen birth rates rose from approximately 8 to 13 births per 1,000 girls annually.
- Children experiencing an early parental divorce were approximately 43% more likely to experience incarceration, relative to the study’s low baseline rate.
- College residence declined by more than 40% relative to its baseline level.
- The researchers estimated that reduced household income, movement to lower-opportunity neighborhoods, and greater distance from the nonresident parent explained approximately 25% to 60% of the observed effects.
- The study did not find a noticeable effect on whether the children themselves were married by age 25.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau working paper using linked administrative records. Divorce, Family Arrangements, and Children’s Adult Outcomes A numerical summary is available from the National Bureau of Economic Research.
Plain-language takeaway:
Family disruption during early childhood was associated with lower adult earnings, reduced college attendance, and higher risks of teen birth and incarceration. The consequences appeared to operate partly through lost income, residential moves, reduced neighborhood opportunity, and less proximity to both parents, and the emotional inability to deal with their childhood in a healthy manner.
In Short
A healthy, stable marriage provides children with economic resources, consistent parental involvement, supervision, and emotional security that contribute to better outcomes throughout life.
They do not support saying that every child of divorce or single parenthood will struggle. They also do not suggest preserving an abusive or dangerous household. The evidence concerns average outcomes and is strongest when discussing healthy, low-conflict, stable marriages.