Research: Education more important than marriage for child's development

New research out of Britain's Institute for Fiscal Studies found that the education level of parents has a greater effect on children's social and cognitive development than their marital status, reports the Guardian.

The researchers also pointed out that married couples tend to have a higher level of education than co-habiting, unmarried couples.

"It is true that children born to married couples are on average more cognitively and emotionally successful than children born to co-habiting couples," Ellen Greaves, research economist at the IFS, told the Guardian. "But careful analysis shows that this largely reflects the differences between the types of people who decide to get married and those who don't."

As the BabyCenter points out, "the offspring of married people and the offspring of college-educated people tend to be one and the same."

The Great Oklahoma Library Association Literacy Initiative states that the literacy level of the parents directly effects the literacy level of the child, as parents who have a lower level of education generally do not read to their children, and therefore their children often struggle with reading. While they point out that the income level and marital status are important predictors in the scholastic success of children, "neither is as significant as having a mother (or primary caregiver) who completed high school."

Jezebel suggests that the level of education and economic security play an important role in whether couples choose to get married, and "kids whose parents have that education and security can do better in a lot of ways."

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