Educational Achievement of Children From Single-Mother and Single-Father Families: The Case of Japan

This article examines the relationships between single parenthood and student achievement in Japan. The study uses sixth-grade data from the 2013 National Assessment of Academic Ability and the Detailed Survey, which was the first nationally representative parental survey collected through schools in Japan. The results indicate that children of single-mother and single-father families perform academically lower than children of two-parent families. For children living in single-mother families, more than 50% of the educational disadvantage was explained by a lack of economic resources. For children living in single-father families, the educational disadvantage was explained more by a lack of parenting resources, measured by discussions at home, supervision at home, and involvement in school, than economic resources. These findings suggest that the gendered labor force and division of labor among spouses in Japanese society may deprive parents of the ability to buffer the negative relationship between single parenthood and children's educational achievement.