The Double Challenges of Single Parents Raising Children with Disabilities

TL;DR

This study explores the unique challenges faced by single parents raising children with disabilities, showing they experience worse health, poverty, and employment outcomes.

Contribution

The study integrates research on single parenthood and child disability, identifying unique disadvantages at their intersection.

Findings

Single parents of children with disabilities have significantly worse mental and physical health.

These parents face higher poverty rates and lower employment rates compared to other groups.

Lack of childcare and support limits their ability to work.

Abstract

This paper sheds light on the health-related, economic, and social well-being of single parents of children with disabilities, a population often overlooked in research. Much literature examines single parenthood and child disability independently and generally finds negative consequences of experiencing either. Yet, little is known about the well-being of parents at the intersections of single parenthood and raising a child with a disability. Drawing on data from the UK Millennium Cohort Study, the study compares the health-related, economic, and social well-being of single parents of children with disabilities to that of single parents of non-disabled children and partnered parents. The findings show that single parents of children with disabilities experience significantly worse mental and physical health, higher rates of poverty and lower employment rates. These challenges are compounded by the lack of appropriate childcare and limited support from non-residential parents and extended family members, which further constrains parents’ ability to work. This study investigates a neglected social group and contributes to the literature by integrating two separate strands of research—single parenthood and child disability—and identifying the unique disadvantages that stand at their intersection.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10680-026-09767-9.

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