We all know (either first hand or by watching family or friends) that being a single mom is a stressful juggling act beyond what is experienced by many married moms. So the findings of a study by Ohio State University associate professor of sociology Kristi Williams don't surprise much, but they are important when thinking about the health implications and the support systems in place for single parents.

Williams and her team found that women who had their first child outside of marriage described their health as poorer at age 40 than other moms. Theses findings are of particular concern when you look at stats in the US where 40 per cent of all births are to unmarried women. What kind of a public health crisis may this cause when these women reach middle age? (The latest findings we could find from Statistics Canada were from 1996 and reported that 22 per cent of families with children had lone parents; no facts could be found on the number of Canadian women who gave birth to their first child out of wedlock.)

The study also looked at variables like whether getting married later on helped with these negative health concerns (generally it did not). Across ethnic groups there were differences as well. Of those women who had their first child outside of marriage, Hispanic women did not have the same degree of negative health consequences at age 40 that Caucasian and African American women did. The researchers did not prove, but did suspect, that this is because when Hispanic women have a child out of marriage they are more likely than the other groups to be in a long-term cohabiting relationship similar to marriage, or have a closer-knit extended family offering support.

Researchers were not able to follow the health patterns over the long term of unwed mothers to determine what caused their health to deteriorate but they are fairly certain it is due to stress and the strains of lower income.

If you're curious to read more, the study will be published in the June 2011 issue of the American Sociological Review. Or you can read a comprehensive summary at EurekAlert.

Do you think their needs to be greater support offered to single moms and dads? Do you think they should try and promote marriage to decrease the number of women having to go it alone?