Thanks for this Jim. Interesting. I noticed that in the Family Structure and Early Life Mortality study they specifically give a number for single fathers but omit any mention of single mothers. They do point out a higher number for "single parent families". LOL. Do ya think they might be hidin sumpin? lol If the average for single fathers was 47% and the average for "single parent" plus grandparents etc was was 54%. It seems likely that the average for single mothers was considerably higher than that of single fathers? I may try and find that study and see how the did things.
Good observations, Tom. I overlooked that aspect of the conclusion. The difference between child early life mortality in married vs single-parent household is pretty clear, but you're correct that it becomes questionable when looking at the father-only vs mother-only household results. Both households types were associated with higher child mortality compared to married household, irrespective of what model (other variables controlled) they used. The 47% statistic they reference in their abstract appears to have come from the 8th model they tested, which was the only in which father-only was higher than mother-only. So, you're correct that the abstract is deceiving. When no other variables were controlled for, the higher rates of death compared to married household were 58% for single-mother households and 67% for single-father households. These numbers were then reduced when they entered the data into models that controlled for other variables The other thing to note is that there were more total children living in single-mother households, meaning the absolute number of deaths would be higher mother-only households. The total number of deaths across all household types and across the study time period was 1,761. Oddly, they did not bother to report absolute numbers of deaths for each of the household types, which would help provide more perspective. So, the study appears to be a mixed bag.
Thanks for this Jim. Interesting. I noticed that in the Family Structure and Early Life Mortality study they specifically give a number for single fathers but omit any mention of single mothers. They do point out a higher number for "single parent families". LOL. Do ya think they might be hidin sumpin? lol If the average for single fathers was 47% and the average for "single parent" plus grandparents etc was was 54%. It seems likely that the average for single mothers was considerably higher than that of single fathers? I may try and find that study and see how the did things.
Good observations, Tom. I overlooked that aspect of the conclusion. The difference between child early life mortality in married vs single-parent household is pretty clear, but you're correct that it becomes questionable when looking at the father-only vs mother-only household results. Both households types were associated with higher child mortality compared to married household, irrespective of what model (other variables controlled) they used. The 47% statistic they reference in their abstract appears to have come from the 8th model they tested, which was the only in which father-only was higher than mother-only. So, you're correct that the abstract is deceiving. When no other variables were controlled for, the higher rates of death compared to married household were 58% for single-mother households and 67% for single-father households. These numbers were then reduced when they entered the data into models that controlled for other variables The other thing to note is that there were more total children living in single-mother households, meaning the absolute number of deaths would be higher mother-only households. The total number of deaths across all household types and across the study time period was 1,761. Oddly, they did not bother to report absolute numbers of deaths for each of the household types, which would help provide more perspective. So, the study appears to be a mixed bag.