Women who have to bring up children alone face poor health later in life, researchers warn today.
The risks are greatest for women in England, the USA, Denmark and Sweden, researchers report.
The findings are reported in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.
Researchers say they cannot establish whether the problem is because of the poverty often linked to single motherhood – or whether the strain of rearing children alone contributes to poor health.
The findings come from an analysis of major surveys conducted in the USA, England and across Europe. Women in the surveys reported their own levels of health and disability.
The European study involved Denmark, Sweden, Austria, France, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Greece, Poland and the Czech Republic.
In the USA one third of mother had been a single parent before the age of 50 – compared with 38% in Denmark and Sweden, 10% in southern Europe and 22% in England and western Europe.
Researcher Dr Lisa Berkman, of the Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, said: "The findings add to the growing recognition that single motherhood may have long term health effects on mothers.
"As lone motherhood is on the rise in many countries, policies addressing health disadvantages of lone mothers may be essential to improving women’s health and reducing disparities.”
Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 15 May 2015 [abstract]
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