How Different Are the Adult Children of Parents Who Have Same-Sex Relationships?
This study was one of the first to address the issue of a lack of random representative sampling in same sex parenting research. A random sample of just over 15,000 adults were surveyed asking a number of questions. 2988 completed the survey and from that sample approximately 248 adults were identified who had ever lived with a parent who had been in a same-sex relationship. The other 2740 were divided into 6 other family types giving 8 groups. For each group, results for 40 different outcome measures were obtained.
Here are some of the key findings. (IBF= intact biological families)
It should be clear that there are significant differences across every variable between IBF and children with lesbian fathers and gay mothers. Outcomes of children who had lesbian/gay parents were similar in many respects to those with divorced, single parents or step families.
Conclusion:
‘The empirical claim that no significant differences exist (between same sex couples and IBFs) must go..The study also clearly reveals that children appear most apt to succeed as adults when they spend their entire childhood with their married mother and father, and especially when the parents remain married to this day…The household instability that the study reveals is just too common among same sex coupes to take the social gamble of spending significant political and economic capital to esteem and support this new (but tiny) family form while Americans continue to flee the stable two-parent biological married household, the far more common and accomplished workhorse of the American household, and still, according to the data, at least-the safest place for a kid’ (Study Author)
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Wow. The table says it all. The gold standard for child outcome is the married for life husband and wide couple. All other outcomes are way down the scale. This table should be in all churches and every light pole to confirm, embolden and encourage those wonderful people who stay in traditional marriage. Good onya mum. Good onya dad. You uphold the Big Fellas laws and He honours you with great kids and this table and study proves it.
ReplyApart from the fact that it’s wrong to draw causal conclusions from correlations there is a glaring fault in the method used. Any traditional marriage that fails is placed in a catagory to the right of the table. Why wasn’t there a catagory for intact same sex marriages and all the failed SSM placed into a divorced category as was done for IBF. One valid interpretation of this data is that long lasting relationships are correlated with happier kids – which sounds like it could be true.
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