Lone motherhood, employment and outcomes for children

Using a British national longitudinal survey that has followed children from birth into adulthood we investigated whether the educational attainment, economic position, and family formation and dissolution behaviour of children living with a lone mother in their teens differ from children brought up by both parents according to whether the lone-mother is in employment or not. The analyses showed that daughters of non-employed, lone-mothers were less likely to have attained qualifications, to be more economically disadvantaged and more likely to have become young mothers than their contemporaries in the reference group of intact families with a working mother. However, young women from lone-mother families in which the mother was in employement had similar experiences to those from intact dual earner families. Amongst the men, having a working, lone-mother reflected positively in the economic domain. Overall, the beneficial legacy of having a working, lone-mother was stronger for daughters than sons.