AMERICAN FAMILIESrisks to children when the parent-child relation-
ship suffers as a result of the divorce and when one
or both parents experience multiple divorces
(Amato and Booth 1991).
The level and type of conflict present in the
family prior to a divorce also is important in
understanding the effects of divorce on children.
Children whose families were highly conflictual
may show increased well-being following a divorce.
Conversely, problems of adjustment have been
found among children whose parents did not di-
vorce, but whose family lives were characterized by
high levels of conflict (Furstenberg and Cherlin 1991).
Individuals who experienced ‘‘low-stress’’ pa-
rental divorces do not appear to differ significant-
ly from those who grew up in happy, intact families
(Amato and Booth 1991). In general, negative
consequences of divorce are not found for child-
ren when parents maintain a positive relationship
with the child and with one another, and when the
child is provided with adequate social and eco-
nomic resources. As discussed below, economic
difficulties pose a central challenge for single-
parent (usually single-mother) households.
Single-parent households. Just as the impact
of divorce on children depends upon multiple
factors, no one pattern characterizes how child-
ren’s well-being is influenced by living in a single-
parent household. The circumstances of single
parenthood are diverse—single parents can be
divorced, widowed, or never-married—and they
have access to varying levels and types of social and
economic resources. Households may include on-
ly the single parent and one or more children, or
may include extended family or other household
members. Noncustodial parents may or may not
be part of the child’s life.
It has been noted that single-parent house-
holds are more likely than dual-parent households
to be poor, and that mother-headed households
are especially likely to be poor. Following a di-
vorce, women’s subsequent income declines 27
percent on average, while men’s average income
increases by 10 percent (Peterson 1996). Some of
this income gap is due to the fact that children are
more likely to live with their mothers than their
fathers following a divorce. Currently one child in
four lives in a single-parent family, and women
head 83 percent of these families (U.S. Bureau of
the Census 1998).
Many of the problems associated with single-
parent households are associated with problems
of poverty. The economic difficulties faced by
single parents are compounded when child sup-
port payments from the noncustodial parent are
not provided regularly. About one-half of custodi-
al mothers were awarded child support payments
in 1992. Of the women who had been awarded
child support, 76 percent received full or partial
payment. A significant amount of awarded child
support is not received by the custodial parent:
one-third of all awarded child support was not paid
in 1991. Among custodial parents, mothers have
higher child support award rates and payment
rates than fathers, but they are also much more
likely to be poor. Single custodial mothers are two
and one-half times more likely to be poor than
single custodial fathers (U.S. Bureau of the Cen-
sus 1995).In addition to economic strains, single parents
report problems arising from role and task over-
load, in coordinating a social life and parenting
responsibilities, and difficulties with former spous-
es. Strains experienced by the parent can in turn
impact the well-being of children (Richards and
Schmiege 1993). Some evidence also suggests that
single parents provide less supervision of children
compared to two-parent families (married or
cohabiting) (e.g., Astone and McLanahan 1991).Although research has focused primarily on
problems of single-parent households, some po-
tential benefits of these households have been
identified for children’s development and well-
being. For example, children in single-parent house-
holds have been found to take greater responsibili-
ty for household tasks than children in two-parent
households. Along with increased responsibilities
within the home, children in one-parent house-
holds also apparently develop higher levels of
personal autonomy and independence (see Richards
and Schmiege 1993).Nonmaternal Childcare. With more Ameri-
can women working for pay than ever before,
more preschool-age children are receiving care
from their fathers, other family members, or from
nonrelatives during their mothers’ hours of em-
ployment. As of 1991, 9.9 million children age five
or younger required care during the hours their
mothers were employed. Of these children, the
majority were cared for in a home environment: