New research from multiple leading European experts has determined that children who grow up in same gender couple households perform better in school overall when compared to their heteronormative peers.
Children of same-sex couples perform better in school than kids raised by a mom and a dad, according to new research from several European economists reported The Washington Post.
The researchers found that children raised by same-sex couples had higher test scores in elementary and secondary school and were about 7 percent more likely to graduate from high school than children raised by different-sex couples.
The results are significant since the Netherlands was the first country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage in 2001 and has generally been one of the most supportive nations for same-sex couples.
Said the Post: This latest research follow[ed] all children born in the Netherlands from 1995 to 2005 through primary school (and beyond). The data includes information about the child's educational performance as well as data on the child's parents and family income. Prior studies of the children of gay and lesbian parents have often had a small sample size, of only a few dozen kids, or have used U.S. Census Bureau data, which is only a one-time snapshot.
In total, this latest study tracked 1,200 children raised by same-sex couples and more than 1 million kids raised by different-sex couples.
“The researchers found that same-sex parents are often wealthier, older and more educated than the typical different-sex couple. Same-sex couples often have to use expensive fertility treatments to have a child, meaning they are very motivated to become parents and tend to have a high level of wealth. This is likely to be a key reason their children perform well in school, the economists found,” the study concluded.
