A broken family structure leads to educational difficulties for children UNITED STATES, January 16, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Center for Marriage and Family of the States -Unis published a study in November 2005 which shows broken family structures regularly lead to educational difficulties for children. “When it comes to academic achievement,” the study says, “children living with their own married parents do significantly better than other children.” » The report finds that children from non-intact families (children living in a situation other than that of their own married father and mother) have significantly higher rates of difficulties at all levels of education, from kindergarten to primary, secondary and university levels. Each year a child spends with a single mother or stepparent "reduces that child's overall academic achievement by approximately six months," the report suggests. The study, a comprehensive review of recent academic research on the relationship between family structures and children's educational outcomes, compared the educational outcomes of children who grew up with their own married parents to those of children from non-intact family structures such as divorced, single, remarried or cohabiting parents. Family structure has consistently been found to be the deciding factor in a wide range of children's behaviors that directly influence academic performance, including emotional and psychological distress, attention deficit disorder, social misbehavior, substance abuse, sexual activity and teenage pregnancy. Children from non-intact homes had higher rates of stress, depression, anxiety and low self-esteem, particularly during adolescence. The study found that preschoolers from broken homes were three times more likely to suffer from......article......a study of young people from low-income black homes and varied family structures, Clark (1983) finds that parents of people with good academic achievement set firm but not strict rules, seek information about their children's academic progress, improve literacy skills through activities such as reading and word games, and modeling an optimistic and assertive approach to life. In Clark's study, two-parent and single-parent families that possessed these characteristics produced higher-achieving students, while two-parent and single-parent families that lacked these characteristics produced lower-achieving students. Similarly, Goldenberg (1989) describes how assertive parental involvement can significantly influence student achievement. During Goldenberg's case study, children who improved their reading skills received encouragement and/or in-home tutoring from their parents..