Children with married parents are better off

MailOnline reports that children with married parents are more likely to thrive.

According to some experts, the most important factor in a child’s development is their parents’ background, including their ethnicity, education, social status, wealth and relationship history.

The richest, healthiest and more educated couples are more likely to be married, which provides a more stable environment for children. It appears that cohabiting couples tend to be less educated, younger and with lower incomes.

Researchers Alissa Goodman and Ellen Greaves based their study on the Millennium Cohort Study which has followed the lives of 20,000 children since they were born in 2000.

It has already been shown in the past that children with married parents are healthier, have a better academic performance and have a lower risk of falling into crime, drugs or having early pregnancies.

Marriage supporters say that married couples work harder to overcome hurdles. The results of this new study, however, are not welcome everywhere. Some argue that it all depends on many factors and that some couples who live together and are not married may offer a more stable environment for their children.