My parents separated when I was seven, and throughout the rest of my childhood I resented all the reports on the news and in the papers about how bad divorce was for children. I knew my parents both loved me, and had acted in all things - including their divorce - in the best interests of me and my sister.
Finally, 30 years later, vindication is mine: researchers at the University of Alberta studied over 5000 children from both married and divorced parents and discovered that there were no significant differences in the parenting behaviors of the two groups.
The researchers examined different types of parenting behaviors most commonly assumed to be affected by divorce, including consistency, affection and punishment. What they found was that education and income were much more correlated to parenting behavior than marital status.
Which, as the child of relatively lower-middle class parents with two years of college between them, I also resent. But I guess I'll have to wait another 30 years before the experts reverse themselves on that one.
