The Changing Effects of Lone Parent Families on the Educational Attainment of their Children in a European Welfare State

Abstract

This article1 analyses the effects of different forms of lone parenthood (lone mother, mother and step-father, lone father, or father and step-mother) compared to natural parents families on the educational attainment of their children, using a national data-set on educational attainment in the Netherlands in the late 80s. Children living in lone parent families attain lower educational levels at the start of secondary education compared to children living in natural parents families. This is still the case after controlling for background variables. There are indications that lone mother families function differently from families of a lone father. Compared to the negative effect of lone parent families on educational attainment in the late 70s, the negative effect of the lone mother family has increased in the late 80s.