Family Facts: Social Science Research on Family, Society & Religion

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This finding looks at the relationship between family structure and child abuse.

Rates of serious abuse of children were lowest in the intact, married family but six times higher in the step family, 14 times higher in the always-single family, 20 times higher in cohabiting-biological parent families, and 33 times higher when the mother was cohabiting with a boyfriend who was not the father of her children. In cases where abuse resulted in a child's death, the relationship between family structure and abuse was even stronger. It was lowest in intact, always-married families, three times higher in the step family, nine times higher in the family headed by a single mother who had never married, 18 times higher in the cohabiting-biological parents household, and 73 times higher in families where the mother cohabited with a boyfriend.

Sample or Data Description
abused children in various household structures in Britain (1993).

Source
"Marriage: The Safest Place for Women and Children"
Fagan, Patrick F.
Johnson, Kirk A.
Heritage Foundation Working Paper Vol. Backgrounder No. 1535, Number . April , 2002. Page(s) 3.

FindingID: 4953