Ideally, a family is a protective space, a social network, and a team that supports each other. But what happens when children are raised by a single mother instead of two parents? Single mothers in particular can face significant challenges regarding their mental health and overall life satisfaction. Previous studies have shown that compared to two-parent families, they have poorer mental health and are less satisfied due to increased stress, financial insecurity, and smaller social networks.

A recent study by researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR) and Tilburg University showed how starting a new partnership can affect the health and satisfaction of single mothers. The findings are published in the Journal of Marriage and Family.

Phillipp Dierker, author of the study and doctoral student at MPIDR, along with his co-authors Mine Kühn and Mikko Myrskylä (MPIDR), compared the situation of single mothers in Germany and the UK for their study. Dierker says, "We compared data from these countries because the social systems for single parents are different. In the UK, the net cost of caring for a child is generally higher, and single mothers are more likely to face unemployment and poverty compared to those in Germany."

"However, this does not mean that the situation of single mothers in Germany is good," emphasizes Dierker. The study used data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP) from 1984 to 2020 and from the British Household Panel Study and the UK Household Longitudinal Study (UKHL) from 1996 to 2020. To be included in the study, the mother, children (under 18) and a new partner had to live together in the same household.

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