Someone posted this image in a debate group:
"For those of you who
prefer "statistics."
Imaginary Billionaire, JD
@realtoddbillion: "Stats show that two parent homes
produce better outcomes in kids than
single mother homes but that single
father homes produce the same
outcomes as two parent homes."
(the original tweet has since been deleted)
I said that the literature did not support this claim and he challenged me to "prove it" (ironically, the tweet did not cite any statistics)
Naturally, he kept quiet after I posted some sources, the more extensive of which was:
"As is often the case, the first studies in the 1970s and 1980s were understandably small (16–80 respondents), qualitative, and exploratory, and they were chiefly descriptive and atheoretical. They also largely focused on White, divorced (occasionally widowed), single fathers, who accounted for the majority of single dads in those years. If they included fathers of color, the analysis still often did not address race (this is still largely true today)...
The few studies of this period that included a comparison group of single mothers similarly concluded that single-father respondents were doing pretty well—in fact, similar to (DeFrain & Eirick, 1981) or better than (Ambert, 1982) many single mothers...
Since then, the field has been increasingly dominated by quantitative studies using national, more representative data sets...
In her 1987 study of 55 single fathers, 73 single mothers, and 155 married couples, Risman measured role priority, household tasks, child self-disclosure, physical affection, and parent-child intimacy. Single mothers and fathers were similar on most measures, but single mothers reported more physical affection and intimacy with their children than did single fathers...
Hawkins et al. (2006) analyzed adolescent reports... single fathers were no more involved overall than nonresident mothers, and unpartnered single mothers rated higher on involvement than single dads on all 10 measures...
Single fathers are less close to and less involved with their children’s friends and school, and monitor and supervise their children less than single mothers do...
Single custodial-father families with a coresident partner had the lowest levels of family routines; adolescents in such families are least likely to participate in regular family activities such as eating dinner together. Single-father households with a partner also exhibited lower levels of closeness and awareness of their children’s friends and activities than all other parent types, which may lower social capital for the child...
Using data from the 1982 NSFG, McLanahan and Bumpass (1988) found no differences in the likelihood of teen marriage, teen birth, premarital birth, or marital disruption between youths in single-mother households and youths in single-father households. Adult children from both single-father and single-mother households had equivalently higher rates of these outcomes than those in two-parent households.
Most more recent studies have concentrated on adolescent respondents and have distinguished between internalizing behaviors (e.g., depression, anxiety, low self-esteem) and externalizing behaviors (e.g., antisocial or violent behavior) and substance use. Current evidence from these studies indicates that for internalizing behaviors (Buchanan et al., 1996; Downey et al., 1998) and academic performance (Downey, 1994; McLanahan & Sandefur, 1997; Mulkey, Crain, & Harrington, 1992), outcomes for children from single-father and single-mother households are similar. Again these conclusions support a microstructural approach.
However, turning the lens to externalizing behavior (e.g., antisocial and violent behavior) and substance use (e.g., cigarette smoking, alcohol, drugs), parental gender effects become more salient, with children of single fathers consistently showing higher levels of both (Buchanan et al., 1996; Cookston, 1999; Demuth & Brown, 2004; Downey & Powell, 1993: Hoffmann & Johnson, 1998) over children of single mothers. (Although this review is of US studies, I note that Breivik and Olweus’s (2006) study of Norwegian single fathers came to the same conclusions.)
For instance, Eitle’s own findings from the 2006 study using data from the Florida Youth Substance Abuse Survey, an annual survey of middle and high school students, found that living with a single father increased the risk of alcohol use among boys and girls, the risk of delinquent behavior among daughters, and the risk of marijuana use among Latino students (the study included Whites and African Americans as well). Parental gender didn’t matter for other illicit drug use. The inconsistent nature of the findings led Eitle (2006) to conclude that both the microstructural and the maternal hypotheses were somewhat supported, but not the paternal hypothesis.
Hoffmann and Johnson (1998) focused on drug use among adolescents ages 12–17, using 3 years of NHSDA data. They compared family structures that included two parents, single parents, and stepparents, and they concluded that the risk of drug use, including problem use, was greatest for adolescents in single-father households (see also Cooksey & Fondell, 1996). Similarly, Cookston (1999) used 1995 NLSAH data (adolescent reports) to measure involvement (parental supervision) and outcomes. He found that alcohol and drug behaviors, as well as delinquency rates, were highest in single-father homes. Using the same data, Demuth and Brown (2004) likewise found that family process scores (measures of closeness, supervision, and monitoring) were consistently higher in single-mother families, and this was reflected in lower delinquency rates among children of single mothers versus those of single fathers. However, once they controlled for family process variables—that is, once they compared single mothers and fathers with similar levels of closeness, attachment, supervision, and monitoring—they concluded that gender was of no importance.
One of the few exceptions was a study conducted by Downey, Ainsworth-Darnell, and Dufur (1998)...
Related to outcomes and within-group variation, Buchanan et al.’s (1996) Stanford Custody Project found that having a cohabiting partner in the household, which as stated earlier is more common among single fathers than single mothers, was associated with higher levels of virtually every problematic outcome they measured: poorer conflict resolution skills, substance use, school deviance, anti-social behavior, and lower grades and effort at school. Not surprisingly, the authors concluded that the association between having an unmarried partner in the household and poor adjustment, especially for boys, was strong and consistent.
Several studies related to outcomes for children have gone one step further than asking whether children are better off with single fathers or single mothers; rather, they have asked whether the consequences for children’s outcomes are a result of an interaction between the gender of the parent and of the child. For the most part, these studies ask whether children will fare better when they are raised by a parent of the same sex. Remember that single fathers tend to raise more sons than daughters, which can be attributed to both a greater propensity of fathers to seek custody of their sons and to mothers’ and courts’ willingness to grant those requests, in part because the parties assume that fathers will be more effective parents for sons than for daughters. Underlying this is Freud’s classic psychoanalytic theory, which emphasizes the importance of a child’s ability to identify with the same-sex parent as a prerequisite for his or her healthy emotional development (Downey & Powell, 1993). Similarly, social learning theory stresses the importance of the child modeling the behavior of the parent more similar to her- or himself, as well as the reinforcement received from others for doing so (Bussey & Bandura, 1984). In addition, others have suggested that parents may better understand the needs of their same-sex children (Thompson, 1983), or researchers have highlighted concerns that custodial heterosexual parents may seek emotional fulfillment from their opposite-sex children in the absence of an adult partner (Weiss, 1979).
Among the first studies to support the same-sex theory was the Texas Custody Research Project (Santrock & Warshak, 1979)...
However, subsequent studies have not reached the same conclusions...
Using a sample of 187 children from 160 divorced families in Southern California, with roughly equal numbers of children in same-sex and opposite-sex custodial arrangements, Clarke-Stewart and Hayward (1996) tested the maternal versus paternal theory, hypothesizing that children would do better in the custody of their same-sex parent. Although they found that children were generally emotionally better off in father custody, none of the interactions by gender matching of child and parent was significant for any measure of psychological well-being (e.g., divorce adjustment, self-esteem, depression, anxiety). (A 1998 study in Israel by Guttman and Lazar came to similar conclusions...
With a few possible exceptions, the children of single fathers do about as well in terms of internalizing behavior and academic performance (sometimes better), which again provides support for microstructural theories. However, the children of single fathers appear to be more likely to participate in externalizing behavior and substance use (do not confuse with “abuse”), perhaps a reflection of the already-mentioned style differences, which indicates that resources play a lesser role than parental processes in these outcomes and provides some support for maternal theories. As of yet, the few studies of young adults (as opposed to adolescents) do not seem to indicate significant long-term differences, as related to marriage, teen birth, and divorce, between those reared in single-father versus single-mother homes (Downey & Powell, 1993; McLanahan & Bumpass, 1988)."
Also:
A Comparison of Children Living in Single-Mother and Single-Father Families: Journal of Divorce: Vol 12, No 2-3 - "The measures employed were The Self-Perception Profile for Children (SPPC; Harter, 1985) and The Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL; Achenbach & Edelbrock, 1983). One-way MANCOVA and ANCOVA procedures were performed and it was found that the overall scores of children from single-father families (SFFs) did not differ significantly from children in single-mother families (SMFs) on the SPPC and the CBCL"
The School Performance of ChildreFor instance, Eitle’s own findings from the 2006 study using data from the Florida Youth Substance Abuse Survey, an annual survey of middle and high school students, found that liv- ing with a single father increased the risk of alcohol use among boys and girls, the risk of delinquent behavior among daughters, and the risk of marijuana use among Latino students (the study included Whites and African Americans as well). Parental gender didn’t matter for other illicit drug use. The inconsistent nature of the findings led Eitle (2006) to conclude that both the microstructural and the maternal hypotheses were somewhat supported, but not the paternal hypothesis.n From Single-Mother and Single-Father Families:: Economic or Interpersonal Deprivation? - DOUGLAS B. DOWNEY, 1994 - "Children from single-father and single-mother families perform roughly the same in school, but both are outperformed by children from two-parent families"
Reexamining the Effects of Family Structure on Children's Access to Care: The Single-Father Family - PMC - "Children who reside in single-father families exhibit poorer access to health care than children in other family structures"
A National Portrait of Family Structure and Adolescent Drug Use on JSTOR - "Hoffmann and Johnson (1998) focused on drug use among adolescents ages 12-17, using 3 years of NHSDA data. They compared family structures that included two parents, single parents, and stepparents, and they concluded that the risk of drug use, including problem use, was greatest for adolescents in single-father households (see also Cooksey & Fondell, 1996). Similarly, Cookston (1999) used 1995 NLSAH data (adolescent reports) to measure involvement (parental supervision) and outcomes. He found that alcohol and drug behaviors, as well as delinquency rates, were highest in single-father homes. Using the same data, Demuth and Brown (2004) likewise found that family process scores (measures of closeness, supervision, were consistently higher in single-mother families, and this was reflected in lower delinquency rates among children of single mothers versus those of single fathers."
American Single Father Homes: A Growing Public Health Priority - PMC - "Compared with other family heads (e.g., single mothers, married couples, or cohabiting caregivers), single fathers tend to utilize health and behavioral health services for their children at lower rates. Children of single fathers have the lowest percentage (59%) of annual well-child visits to a consistent pediatrician compared with children of other family heads (e.g., 72% for married couples, 71% for single mothers, and 69% for cohabitating families) and are less likely to adhere to medical advice"