THE CHANGING EFFECTS OF LONE PARENT FAMILIES ON THE EDUCATIONAL-ATTAINMENT OF THEIR CHILDREN IN A EUROPEAN WELFARE-STATE

This article1 analyses the effects of different forms of lone parentho od (lone mother, mother and step-father, lone father, or father and st ep-mother) compared to natural parents families on the educational att ainment of their children, using a national data-set on educational at tainment in the Netherlands in the late 80s. Children living in lone p arent families attain lower educational levels at the start of seconda ry education compared to children living in natural parents families. This is still the case after controlling for background variables. The re are indications that lone mother families function differently from families of a lone father. Compared to the negative effect of lone pa rent families on educational attainment in the late 70s, the negative effect of the lone mother family has increased in the late 80s.