Study links love between parents and child's future

A new study has found that the emotional connection shared by parents has the potential to shape their children's future. Published in the journal Demography, co-authored by researchers at the University of Michigan and McGill University in Quebec, the study collected unique data from families in Nepal to provide evidence.

William Axinn, co-author and U-M Institute for Social Research researcher said: "In this study, we saw that parents' emotional connection to each other affects child-rearing so much that it shapes their children's future."

"The fact that we found these kinds of things in Nepal moves us to step closer to evidence that these things are universal," William added.

A detailed study conducted by the researchers found that the children of parents who reported they loved each other either "some" or "very much" stayed in school longer and married later. Lead author Sarah Brauner-Otto, director of the Centre on Population Dynamics at McGill University said: "Demonstrating and providing evidence that love, this emotional component of family, also has this long impact on children's lives is really important for understanding the depth of family influence on children."

On why parental love impacts children in this way, researchers speculate that when parents love each other, they tend to invest more in their children, leading to children remaining in education longer. The children's home environments may also be happier when parents report loving each other, so the children may be less likely to escape into their own marriages. Children may also view their parents as role models, and take longer to seek similar marriages.