Family changes linked to mother’s age – study

Children born to younger mothers are more likely to face upheaval in their family life, a study has found.

Youngsters who have mothers under 30 are much more likely to have faced a change in their family, with many gaining a stepfather.

The findings are based on an analysis of information gathered on around 14,000 children born in the UK between 2000 and 2002 as part of the Millennium Cohort Study.

It found that by the age of seven, more than one in five (22 per cent) of all children looked at were living with just their mother, with around one in 20 (6 per cent) living with their mother and a stepfather.

Nearly seven in 10 (69 per cent) lived with both their natural parents, with just over half of these (55 per cent) living with married natural parents.

But a comparison of children born to mothers under 30 and those born to mothers aged over 40 revealed stark differences.

Those born to older mothers were twice as likely to be living with both their natural parents at the age of seven than those born to younger mothers (80 per cent compared to 42 per cent).

And while one in six (15 per cent) of children with younger parents were living with their mother and stepfather, the same was true for only two per cent of those with older parents.

In addition, 39 per cent of those with mothers under 30 were living with their mother alone, against 15 per cent of those with mothers over 40.

The analysis found that one in five children (21 per cent) had seen a change in their family life between the ages of nine months and seven, either gaining or losing a parent or step-parent.

But it found that the risk of change in the first seven years of life decreased with the age of the mother.