Does family structure matter even more for children’s performance in our nation’s schools than it used to? Although the frequency of marriage has declined, couples who do marry and have children tend to be relatively older, more educated, and more religious. These characteristics raise the chances that the marriage will endure. As a consequence, divorces have diminished in frequency since 1980. In fact, today more single-parent families are the result of non-marriage rather than separation or divorce. These developments improve the relative life chances of children in married-couple families. 

In this Institute for Family Studies research brief, we examine data from two federal surveys conducted 23 years apart to determine whether and how the links between students’ family living arrangements and indicators of student performance and adjustment have changed over the last quarter century. 

Our results reaffirm the conclusion that children from stable, married families have a better chance of receiving the guidance and support they need to succeed academically and adapt confidently to the classroom environment than children from disrupted or reconstituted families. This does not mean that children from non-traditional families cannot do well in school. Many do, despite the conflict, turmoil, or curtailed parenting they may experience at home. But the odds of school success are more favorable for those from families headed by married, biological parents. In fact, our research lends additional credence to other research suggesting that family structure matters more than ever for the educational attainment of today’s children. Even though family instability is less stigmatized than it once was, this research brief indicates that the power of being raised by stably married parents is only increasing.