As it is, working single moms are already faced with innumerable challenges in raising children. But a new study says that they could also be facing a greater risk of stroke or coronary heart disease compared to working married mothers.
The study, which was published in the American Journal of Public Health, points out that stress in working single moms could be aggravated because of the lack of support from a partner. Whereas working married moms have another person to depend on for financial and social support, working single mothers have to rely on only themselves.
The stress is further triggered when a working single mom is faced with job security issues. Thus, they might exhibit unhealthy behaviors that could affect their general health.
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The study looked into 6,000 American women and 13,000 European women born from 1935 through 1956. The experts analyzed the links between the family dynamics and coronary heart disease risks. The experts learned that about 77 percent of working single moms tend to smoke compared to working married moms. Thus, this makes them more vulnerable to heart diseases and stroke.
The findings also showed that it's the working single moms in the United States who present more risks at 11 percent, than those from Europe, which is at five percent. It may be because women in Europe have different family dynamics than in the United States, per Healio.
Daily Mail reports that similar studies have been done in the past that confirm it's the working married moms who are a lot healthier than working single moms. But it should be pointed out that the study poses some limitations since the medical reports the research is based on might not provide accurate medical conditions of the women. It also didn't deal with other variables such as the number of children the women tend to, when most working single moms in America have only one child.
