Attitudes towards single parents' children in private and state-dependent private schools: Experimental evidence

Artikel

Single parenthood is on the rise worldwide. While acceptance of single-parent households is increasing, some authors point out that single-parent families still suffer from negative societal attitudes compared to heterosexual two-parent families, while also being among the most vulnerable groups of society. Motivated by these findings, we study whether private and state-dependent private schools in Catalonia (Spain) are more reluctant to interact with single parents than with heterosexual couples. We conduct a field experiment during the children's pre-registration period. We create three types of fictitious families (heterosexual couple, single mother, and single father) and send e-mails to schools in which the family structure is made explicit. Our results indicate that schools are more prone to interact with single parents than with heterosexual couples.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Journal: SERIEs - Journal of the Spanish Economic Association ; ISSN: 1869-4195 ; Volume: 14 ; Year: 2023 ; Issue: 2 ; Pages: 223-242

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Public Goods ; Education and Research Institutions: General ; Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure; Domestic Abuse
• Subject: Children ; Discrimination ; Field experiment ; Schools ; Single parents

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Diaz-Serrano, Luis ; Flamand, Sabine
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Springer
• (where): Heidelberg
• (when): 2023

Further information

• DOI: doi:10.1007/s13209-023-00281-3
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:43 AM CET