A new research brief from the Institute for Families Studies (IFS) suggests that, judging by several key metrics, children are better off when they grow up in an intact, two-parent family as compared to those raised in single-parent home or in stepfamilies.
The central takeaway from the paper is that children raised by their biological parents are significantly more likely than children in other family structures to avoid poverty and prison, as well as to graduate from college — and those benefits are evident across racial lines.
Shannon Osaka, The Washington Post
Madison Colombo, Fox News
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© 2026 Institute for Family Studies
© 2026 Institute for Family Studies
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