Children of gay couples do better in school

Keywords: same-sex parents, behavioral outcomes, family system theory, minority stress theory, probability sample, coarsened exact matching. We contextualize these findings in their wider cultural context, and recommend a renewed focus in future research away from deficit-driven comparisons.

What We Know What

Though the household grid approach allows far more general conclusions about same-sex parent families than studies using nonprobability surveys, these studies face other methodological challenges. Same-sex parents anticipate rejection not only of themselves, but they expect the rejection of their children, which adds stress unique to same-sex parents to general stress experienced by all parents [ 915161718 ].

The findings obtained by coarsened exact matching suggest no significant disadvantages for children with same-sex parents compared to different-sex parents. Our analysis of data on all children in the Netherlands found those who have same-sex parents do better on standardised scores than those with parents of different sexes.

In some of these surveys, it is possible to identify same-sex and different-sex couples. As such, stress and emotions experienced in one subsystem e. Same-sex parents face substantial stressors due to their sexual orientation, such as experiences of prejudice and prohibitive legal environments.

To date, there are only a few nationally representative studies that investigate the well-being of children with same-sex parents. Same-sex couples who live together can be identified in household grids if the gender and the nature of the relationship between household members are recorded [ 21 ].

The authors find that children raised by same-sex parents from birth outperform children raised in different-sex families in primary and secondary education. It is possible that parents who are recruited through lesbian and gay parenting groups want to show that they are good parents.

New research led by Dr Deni Mazrekaj at Oxford’s Department of Sociology indicates that children raised by same-sex parents from birth perform better than children raised by different-sex parents in both primary and secondary education.

Another critique of these studies is their limited statistical power to detect significant differences [ 16 ]. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. Combining insights from family system theory and minority stress theory, one can assume that children growing up in same-sex parent families may experience more psychological problems than children growing up in different-sex parent families due to excessive stress on the family system as a whole.

Specifically, children with same-sex parents further have higher standardized tests scores, high school graduation rates, and college enrollment. In contrast to this theoretical prediction, the body of empirical literature examining potential differences between children raised by same-sex or different-sex parents finds small or no differences in terms of behavioral problems [ 19 ], and only a few studies find small disadvantages in terms of emotional adjustment and schooling outcomes [ 20 ].

To overcome selection bias in community samples, the field has turned to research based on household surveys of the general population. Same-sex parents face stress due to their sexual orientation, such as experiences of prejudice, negative feedback from friends and family, and a prohibitive legal environment [ 7891011 ].

The literature on minority stress theory continually shows adverse mental health outcomes for sexual minorities, resulting from the stress of navigating heterosexist societies [ 121314 ]. Having same-sex parents could have “some advantages for children” compared to children of straight couples, researchers said after poring through decades of studies published since This enables us to study the academic achievement of 2, children raised by same-sex parents (2, lesbian couples and gay male couples) and more than a million children raised by different-sex parents, followed from birth until the end of primary education.

Regardless of the outcome, previous studies have been criticized for methodological shortcomings, in particular the use of nonprobability samples i. Published in the American Sociological Review, the study shows that children raised by same-sex couples out-perform their peers regardless of sex, ethnicity.

Findings based on this work draw similar conclusions to the nonprobability literature, namely small or no differences in terms of health, psychological and behavioral adjustment, delinquency, and school outcomes between children raised by same-sex and different-sex parents [ 22232425262728 ].

Official websites use. We take advantage of unique data from the Netherlands based on a probability sample from population registers, whereby findings can be inferred to same-sex and different-sex parent households with parents between the ages of 30 and 65, and with children between the ages of 6 and 16 years 62 children with same-sex, and 72 children with different-sex parents.

According to family system theory, families consist of interdependent subsystems. Therefore, to draw more general conclusions, it is advisable to compare the well-being of children in same-sex parent and different-sex parent families in national probability samples rather than in surveys of specific groups.

This added stress is likely to lead to reduced physical and mental health in same-sex parents that, in turn, may translate into problematic behavioral outcomes in their children.