The relationship between family type and children's happiness

Children from single-parent or blended families are just as happy as those from intact families, according to a new study.

Single parents worry about the impact their family structure will have on their children, but a leading UK research centre on happiness has found that it is family relationships, rather than the type of family structure, that appear to make a difference.

7 years old

Researchers at the Knightson Centre for Social Research analysed data from a 2008 study of 12,877 seven-year-olds by the UK's Millennium Institute.

They found that the children's happiness levels had no relationship to whether they lived in intact or single-parent families: 64% of the children said they were sometimes or never happy, while 36% said they were always happy.

The results held true even when the researchers accounted for other factors, such as parents' social class.

On the contrary, important and effective factors include interpersonal relationships, including getting along well with siblings and friends, a good family atmosphere, and not being bullied at school.

The fourth family type, that is, children without a complete family, have lower happiness, but there are also a few in this category (only 0.3% of the total) that were not subject to further statistical analysis.

Jenny Shanfroy, a senior researcher at the Natelson Centre for Social Research, told the annual conference of the British Sociological Association that it is not the type of family but the relationship between parents and children that determines whether a seven-year-old is happy.

11-15 years old

Shanfroy said they found similar results when they analyzed another set of survey data from 2,679 British children aged 11 to 15 (the Social Research Survey collected data from 2009 to 2011).

Researchers found that children from single-parent and blended families were happier than children from intact families, and those who lived with only one parent were not much less unhappy; but both situations were clearly overlooked.

In fact, family type did not affect the happiness of children aged 11-15.

"We found that family type had no significant effect on the well-being of children aged seven or 11-15 years," Jeanne Schanfro told the conference.

"It's the family relationships that matter, not the type of family structure. A seven-year-old is happier if he or she gets along well with his or her siblings, has fun playing with the family at weekends and doesn't get yelled at when the child is naughty.

"Classmate relationships are also important, and being bullied or bullying others at school can reduce a 7-year-old's sense of well-being.

The researchers' research funding was provided by the Ministry of Health.