Single-mother poverty : how much do educational differences in single motherhood matter?

Abstract

Educational differences in family structure have received increasing attention in family demographic research ever since McLanahan (2004) coined the term ‘diverging destinies’ to describe educationally uneven trends in family formation and family structure, parental involvement and families’ attachment to the labour market. Her key finding was that highly educated women have been forming their families later in life and leading family lives characterised by stable marriage, high labourforce participation and husbands actively involved in childrearing, whereas less educated women’s family lives have become characterised by less marriage, more single motherhood and less father involvement.