Is Maternal Marriage Beneficial for Low-Income Adolescents? (original) (raw)

2009, Applied Developmental Science

The present study investigated the association of mothers' marriage and changes in young adolescents' cognitive and socioemotional development and changes in family processes. Analyses employed longitudinal data from the Three-City Study to track maternal partnerships for 860 lowincome adolescents (10-14 years-old in Wave 1) across a 16 month period. No short-term benefits or risks emerged for youth when mothers entered marriage, with few changes in family or maternal functioning linked with marriage formation as well. In contrast, adolescents in stably married families experienced improved academic, behavioral, and psychological well-being compared to youth in stable cohabiting or single-parent families. Stable marriage was similarly linked to improvements across multiple domains of home and mothers' functioning. These patterns were not moderated by the male partner's identity (biological father or stepfather). Results support the benefits of stable marriage on youth development, but suggest that policies supporting movements into new marriages may not result in improved adolescent or family functioning, at least in the short term. Keywords ADOLESCENT; FAMILY STRUCTURE; LOW-INCOME; MARRIAGE Several notable demographic shifts have occurred over the last few decades that have important implications for current public policies and the well-being of American children. In the 1990s, the number of single-mother households modestly declined, while the incidence of births and childrearing in cohabiting-couple families grew, particularly among low-income families (Bumpass & Lu, 2000; Seltzer, 2000). At the same time, divorce remained common, with increasing numbers of children experiencing multiple transitions in parental partnering, especially among low-income families (Ellwood & Jencks, 2004; Manning, Smock, & Majumdar, 2004; McLanahan, 2004).