“If I were asked to design a system for making sure that children’s basic needs were met, we would probably come up with something quite similar to the two-parent ideal…The fact that both parents have a biological connection to the child would increase the likelihood that the parents would identify with;the child and be willing to sacrifice for that child, and it would reduce the likelihood;that either parent would abuse the child..”

Sara McLanahan and Gary Sandefur, “Growing up with a single parent: What hurts, what helps.”