Ariel Kalil: Multigenerational households are key to better support for kids of single mothers

Ariel Kalil, Daniel Levin Professor at Harris School of Public Policy and co-director of the Behavioral Insights and Parenting Lab authored an op-ed published in the Chicago Tribune entitled: "Multigenerational households are key to better support for kids of single mothers."

Kalil writes: 

Decades of research show that on average, children who grow up with parents who are not married and living together have worse achievement and behavioral and well-being outcomes than children of two-parent homes. Despite this evidence, rates of nonmarital childbearing have risen dramatically in the U.S., especially among the noncollege-educated. What then can be done to help the increasing number of children growing up outside of married, two-parent households to flourish? 

While we need many good ideas on the table, policymakers should look very closely at one demographic phenomenon: the positive outcomes of low-income children who live with their grandmothers. And there are lots of them. America has seen a marked rise in these multigenerational households, driven by the realities of single parenting, as well as myriad economic, housing and other headwinds. 

Read the full piece at the Chicagotribune.com.