Children of Same-Sex Couples Happier, Healthier: Study

For children, a significant part of their health and happiness depends on their parents. However, new research shows that some family situations may be better than others.

According to a recent study conducted by researchers at the University of Melbourne in Australia, children of same-sex parents are more likely to report higher levels of health and happiness, overall, than coming from other familiy situations. 

"It's often suggested that children with same-sex parents have poorer outcomes because they're missing a parent of a particular sex. But research my colleagues and I published in the journal BMC Public Health shows this isn't the case," said lead researcher Simon Crouch, via the Conversation.

For the study, researchers interviewed 315 same-sex couples that had a total of 500 children, all from Australia. They measured the children's general health and family cohesion while simultaneously comparing it to children taken from the general population. Certain control factors for the study included the parent's education, income and race.

Study findings revealed that children born to same-sex couples scored about 6 percent higher on both physical health and family cohesion. However, all of the children showed similar results for other variables, including emotional behavior and physical function.
Though study authors remain uncertain at this time as to why same-sex couples have children who reported higher happiness and health levels, they believe it might have something to do with a more equal work distribution.

"Many studies have demonstrated that children's well-being is affected much more by their relationships with their parents, their parents' sense of competence and security, and the presence of social and economic support for the family than by the gender or the sexual orientation of their parents," concluded Benjamin Siegel, the co-author of the study, via the Washington Post.

More information regarding the findings can be seen via "Parent-reported measures of child health and wellbeing in same-sex parent families: a cross-sectional survey."