Disability, partnership and parenting

Abstract

Partnerships and parenthood can have important effects on economic, social and psychological well-being. We provide new long-term analysis of how disability affects both parental status and partnerships. Analysis of the new Life Opportunities Survey, which is based on social model approaches, demonstrates that disabled people are more likely than non-disabled people to face disadvantages in terms of family formation. Disabled people are more likely to remain single over time, although there is less evidence for any differences in rates of relationship breakdown for those who enter them. Allied to these conclusions, disabled adults are less likely to form households where there are dependent children. These conclusions are supported by longitudinal results from the British Household Panel Survey.

Keywords:

• family
• relationships
• households

Notes

1. The BHPS has now been incorporated into the Understanding Society Survey.

2. Despite these clear differences, disabled people were not much more likely than average to regard their personal lives as being restricted in any particular way – 12% of disabled people thought their personal relationships were restricted, compared with 3% of non-disabled people. The set of restrictions included financial ones and a lack of time, in addition to being disabled or having an impairment.