Single motherhood and its consequences on children; A case comparison of Sweden and Germany. : - About how it affects children's health/academic performance

Sammanfattning: This thesis aims at examining the relationship between single motherhood and the health and academic performance of children in different countries. It was geared toward understanding whether single motherhood has an impact or consequences on the health and academic performance of children. In order to attain this goal, this thesis was sub divided into three main parts (sections) namely; examining whether single motherhood has consequences on the health outcome of children, examining whether single motherhood has consequences on the academic performance of children and finally ascertaining the impact of single motherhood on children's health and academic performance in different economies (Sweden and Germany).  Furthermore, this study adopted the quantitative and cross-cultural approach where quantitative data was obtained across different countries. The Health Behaviour of School aged Children (HBSC) constituted the main source from which responses, respondents and data collection instrument was obtained.  After thorough statistical analysis, the regression mode was used to establish that single motherhood reduced the quality of health and academic outcome of children and thus reflecting a negative impact of single motherhood on the child's health and academic performance.  A cross comparison approach was used to ascertain the economies of Sweden and Germany and compared against the impact of single motherhood on the children's health and academic performance in these two countries. It was then revealed that the impact of single motherhood on children's health and academic performance was dire and common in Germany than Sweden. The study finally concluded that single motherhood negatively impacted the health and academic performance of children with varying impact in different economic context.