When you have a single parent family, it is possible that there are difficulties or situations different from those of a family with two figures. One of the concerns or beliefs is that coming from a single parent family could affect the school life of children.
However, according to a recent report, having a single parent family does not influence the academic performance of children.
Published in the magazine Demographic Perspectives of the Center for Demographic Studies of the University of Barcelona, the report entitled "Does single parenthood pose a risk to children's school performance?", analyzes whether the fact of coming from a single-parent family influences in some way, as well as other factors to consider that may affect such performance in children.
In recent years, single-parent families have been increasing, as well as the number of babies born to single mothers. In the report, it is also reported that previously this type of family was more common in women with higher education, however in recent years it has increased among women with a lower educational level.
According to the report, some of the challenges of single-parent families are the reduction of working hours to be able to care for their children, which means lower income and a greater risk of poverty, a situation that faces more than half of single parents in Spain.
In those families that are single parents after a separation, children must also adapt emotionally to their new life. These are factors They suggest that living in a single parent family could have a negative influence on academic performance of the kids.
Analyzing the results of PISA, it was found that during a standardized math test, children who lived with their father and mother obtained a score of 489, while children from single-parent families obtained 479. On the other hand, children living with a single figure, but they also lived with their grandparents, obtained even lower scores.
Based only on these figures, we could assume that the fact of coming from a single parent family effectively influences the academic performance of children. But according to the report, there are important reservations that oppose this statement.
For example, another analysis shows that children who have a computer at home get a higher score than those who do not, and even the difference is much greater than that obtained by analyzing the family structure.
Considering this, it is understood that There are other factors that further influence the performance of children in school, such as the economic situation, which could be the reason why some children do not have a computer at home.
In general, differences in cognitive abilities in children depending on their family structure, They are very small compared to other features of your home.
The researcher concludes that when it comes to the opportunities that children will have, it is more important to focus on other factors such as the income of the family, the upbringing and the neighborhood where they live, since it was seen that school performance does not change much although children live in a different family structure.
