One-Parent Families in Contemporary Cambodia.

Nonmarital births and divorce are rare in Cambodia. Because of dramatic levels of adult mortality reached during the late 1970s, however, growing up with a single parent is not rare. Using nationally representative, cross-sectional data, we estimate that about 12% of children under age 18 co-reside with only one of their biological parents. Using longitudinal data representative of the Mekong River Valley, we found this proportion to be declining. Nearly half of these children live in nuclear families (single parent with or without a stepparent), even though they live in multigenerational families more frequently than children who live with both their parents, especially when young and not living with their mother. Finally, we consider differences in socioeconomic conditions and child educational outcomes by number of co-residing parents. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]