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Single mothers in Poland [175]
Stigmatising single parents
Focusing solely on paretns or single mothers diverts attention from the most important people involved: the children.
This is not to suggest that single mothers or cohabitating couples should be banned or penalised by the law, only that such arrangements are on avergae damaging to the youngsters involved.
For children, the differences between cohabiting and married parents extend far beyond the lack of a marriage licence. Compared to children of married parents, those with cohabiting parents are more likely to experience the breakup of their families, be exposed to "complex" family forms, live in poverty, suffer abuse, and have negative psychological and educational outcomes.
One of the major sources of inequality between cohabiting and married parenthood is that cohabiting couples tend to split up at higher rates than married couples. According to the 2013 National Marriage Project report, Knot Yet, children of cohabiting parents in their twenties are three times more likely to experience the dissolution of their family than children born to married parents. The Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCW), meanwhile, finds that "nearly half of parents who are cohabiting at the time of their child's birth break up within five years, compared to only 20 percent of married parents."
family-studies.org/for-kids-parental-cohabitation-and-marriage-are-not-interchangeable