Children of married parents have highest self-esteem, says new research

The Daily Mail reports:

Children whose parents are married have significantly higher self-esteem, according to research unveiled yesterday.

Teenagers of married couples were more confident than those in single-parent families or youngsters whose parents lived together in a stable long-term relationship, it found.

Overall, boys with married parents had the highest self-esteem, while girls with co-habiting parents had the lowest.

Previous research has found that confidence and happiness in childhood has a significant impact on future life chances and is more important than factors such as income.

The latest study contradicts previous claims that children are unaffected by their parents’ marital status.

It found that children whose parents were in stable, long-term co-habiting relationships reported the same levels of self-esteem as those from single parent households.

By contrast, children whose parents were married reported higher levels of self-esteem.

The study, from the Marriage Foundation, was based on data from 3,822 children polled in British Household Panel Survey. Harry Benson, research director at the foundation, said: ‘Conventional wisdom has it that child outcomes depend on parents staying together rather than marital status.

Someone should ask Barack Obama if single parenthood should be subsidized and encouraged.