The unspeakable link between family stability and prosperity
Sara (not her real name) wouldn’t wish single motherhood on anyone. When she and her partner split, it was hard. She remembers the days of shifting emotions and shifting locations. And of course it was hard financially – which, she adds, it still very much is.
For Sara, the idea that family stability leads to economic prosperity is not a tough sell. She believes it’s true for her own family, and also for the country. Others, however, get angry at this claim. For them, it’s not only false, it’s simplistic victim blaming.
But those who believe there is no link between their own family’s stability and the prosperity of the nation need to know that evidence abounds.
Let’s start with unexpected sources. A writer for the finance section of a national Canadian daily recently revealed her number one advice for accruing wealth over the life course: stay married. She herself did not and suffered financially for it.
The research
Statistics Canada further solidifies the link. Data shows single parents are more likely to live in poverty. Of couple households with children, 5.7 per cent are in poverty (as measured by the Low Income Cut-Off, LICO). By contrast, of single female households with children, 21.8 per cent live below the LICO.
Canadian researchers Finnie and Sweetman suggest in a 2003 study that moving from lone parenthood to any other family form significantly decreases the probability of moving into low income. (“Poverty dynamics: empirical evidence for Canada”, Canadian Journal of Economics, 36 (2), p. 306)
A recent Harvard study showed that one of the most important factors for upward mobility for low-income children was their family structure. Even the family structure of neighbouring families had an effect.