A major Government-backed study of childhood has found that children living in single parent households experience significant disadvantages compared to those living in two parent families. 

The report, the National Longitudinal Study of Children, part of which was published yesterday, focused on nine-year-olds. A total of 8,500 nine-year olds, plus their parents and teachers, took part in the study. 

It said that single parent families – especially those with three or more children – “were much more likely to have only one income and be in lower income groups”. 

Children in lone parent families were also considerably more likely to be in a highly conflicted relationship with their mother than if they lived in a two parent family. 

According to the study, there are just over 56,400 nine-year-olds in Ireland, 82 per cent of whom, live in two-parent families.

Almost one-fifth of nine-year-olds in Ireland lived in single-parent families (18 per cent) with 11 per cent living in single-parent families with one other child, and seven per cent in single-parent families with two or more other children. 

Almost half of nine-year-olds lived in households with two or more other children. 

Just under 54 per cent of mothers and 91 per cent of fathers were employed outside the home, but almost 39 per of mothers defined themselves as being in ‘home duties’, i.e. a full-time carer. This was true of only 1.6 per cent of fathers. 

When asked about religious denomination, the overwhelming majority of mothers, 85 per cent, described themselves as Roman Catholic. 

The mothers were presented with six options vis a vis their religion, including an open-ended option described simply as “other”. Nine per cent of mothers were recorded as having no denominational affiliation. 

A higher proportion of nine-year-olds in the Study (87 per cent) were baptised Roman Catholic. The proportion classified as having no denomination (seven per cent) was slightly lower than among mothers. 

The study showed a clear relationship by family type and employment status in the household. Couples with one or two children were most likely to be dual earners, while single parents with three or more children were more likely not to be working outside the home. 

According to the study, very few children with non-resident fathers (five per cent) were conceived outside the context of a relationship between their parents. Over a third (37 per cent) of children not now living with their parents, had parents who had been married to each other.