As we discuss below, one recent study found that family stability trumps family structure as it pertains to early cognitive development even after controlling for economic and parental resources.26 It has been shown that children living in stable single - parent families (that is, families that were headed by a single parent throughout childhood) do better than those living in unstable two - parent families (that is, families that had two parents present initially but then experienced a change in family structure).27 Another study finds that children living in stable cohabiting homes (that is, families
where two parents cohabit throughout the child's life) do just as well as children living with cohabiting parents who eventually marry.28 But
other research challenges the conclusion that it is family stability that is crucial for child wellbeing One study, for instance, found that children who experience two or more family transitions do not have worse
behavioral problems or cognitive test scores than children who experience only one or no family transitions.
The parents interacted with each
other only because of the children, but they had nothing else in common... In the well - functioning families
where, according to mothers» reports, both the mother and the children had accepted the physically absent father inside the family boundaries the children had fewer
behavioral problems.»