Traditional Family Not Necessary for Children, States Scottish Report

By Myles Collier , Christian Post Contributor

October 12, 2012|2:30 pm

There is increasing discussion over a new parenting strategy funded in part by the Scottish government that states children do not need to have two parents in order to be successful.

The new report is part of an $18 million euro project aimed at creating and fostering positive parental influences in a child's life. The report calls into question the necessity of a traditional family structure by insisting that there is "no evidence to suggest that children of lone parents automatically do any worse in life than those with two."

The comments came in The National Parenting Strategy, a 70-page document that details the Scottish government's attempts to provide the best possible environment for parents to raise their children while also making access to support easier for all families.

Norman Wells, of the Family Education Trust, was troubled by the report and the challenging of the fact that two parents are better than one and the social effect caused by single-parent households.

"Deeply offensive to the majority of Scottish families, socially irresponsible and is not supported by the evidence," Wells told The Christian Institute.

"It's important to avoid making sweeping generalizations or discriminating assumptions about family make-up or material wealth and the quality of a child's upbringing. What matters most, research shows, is not a set family structure. Rather, it's responsible, committed and stable parenting by people who genuinely care about the child," the study said.

However, recent studies have shown that single-parent households are not only at an disadvantage when it comes to financial support, but also children from single-parent households have a higher rate of drug and alcohol abuse than children raised in a 2-parent home.

The study was conducted by the Scottish Center for Social Research and found that 44 percent of children between the ages of two to five who were from single-parent households suffered from "conduct problems."

Meanwhile, children from a 2-parent household saw about half the rate, with only 23 percent of children of the same age category suffering from "conduct problems."