SINGLE-PARENTS DON'T DECREASE A CHILD'S READINESS FOR SCHOOL

Living in a single-parent household does not necessarily compromise how well prepared children are for school, concludes a Cornell University Study of about 1,700 6- and 7-year-olds from white, black, and Hispanic families.

"Although one-parent families had lower incomes, what mattered most for kids' school readiness was the mothers' ability and educational levels, and these were about the same in both of the large samples we analyzed of single- and two-parent families," said Henry Ricciuti, professor emeritus of human development at Cornell. He stressed that the potential adverse effects of growing up in a single-parent home might not emerge until later in childhood. He also said that many children in single-parent homes might have the advantage of smaller family size and the increased likelihood of the presences of a maternal grandparent, aunt, or uncle in the household.

The findings of this study, as well as others, suggest that such support for single-parent families should begin in the early childhood years, when the potential adverse effects of single parenthood have not yet emerged or become apparent. Most of the previous studies have focused on adolescents or high school students and have tended to report adverse effects, typically attributed to differences in family income. The study by Ricciuti is one of the few that focuses on younger children.

This story came from the December 1999/January 2000 issue of "Our Children" magazine. Visit http://www.pta.org/aboutpta/store to subscribe.

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