Single-parent households and children’s educational achievement: A state-level analysis

• We combined state data from the U.S. Census bureau and the National Assessment of Educational Progress.
• We used regression models with state and year fixed effects to estimate the effects of single parenthood on children's test scores.
• Single parenthood was not generally associated with state mathematics or reading scores.
• Increases in maternal education were generally related to improvements in children’s math scores.

Although many studies have examined associations between family structure and children’s educational achievement at the individual level, few studies have considered how the increase in single-parent households may have affected children’s educational achievement at the population level. We examined changes in the percentage of children living with single parents between 1990 and 2011 and state mathematics and reading scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress. Regression models with state and year fixed effects revealed that changes in the percentage of children living with single parents were not associated with test scores. Increases in maternal education, however, were associated with improvements in children’s test scores during this period. These results do not support the notion that increases in single parenthood have had serious consequences for U.S. children’s school achievement.