Family structure and children's needs: the test case of moral development

Family researchers disagree on the family characteristics essential for meeting children's developmental needs. Some argue that a particular family structure, two biological parents, is crucial. Others maintain that specific parenting behaviors and access to resources are more important than a particular structure for meeting children's needs. We examine this issue in the instance of children's moral development for which two distinct literatures, those on gender-related conception of morality and communitarian social theory, suggest the importance of two biological parents for meeting children's needs. These literatures place moral development in the position of a test case for the importance of family structure. If it is not essential in this instance, is it likely to be crucial with respect to other development needs? While the evidence is incomplete and mixed, our review of family studies research on children's moral development reveals no clear-cut case for a particular family structure. We conclude by suggesting a political strategy focused on meeting children's developmental needs. By virtue of its friendliness to families with two biological parents as well as the importance it places on parenting behavior and family support systems, both social conservatives and liberals might support this focus, thus fostering common ground for policy development. Keywords. Child development, parenting, family structure, divorce