Researcher Simon Crouch has completed his multi-year study of 500 children raised by more than 300 same-sex couples, and concludes the kids are happier, healthier, and have higher levels of family unit cohesion than their peers raised by different-sex parents.
Crouch believes that because same-sex couples aren't forced into traditional gender roles they tend to operate in their areas of comfort, leading to happier parents -- and happier and better-adjusted children. Overall, Crouch, who performed the study, titled the Australian Study of Child Health in Same-Sex Families, found a six-percent increase in those aspects.
"That's really a measure that looks at how well families get along, and it seems that same-sex-parent families and the children in them are getting along well, and this has positive impacts on child health," Dr. Crouch told Australia's ABC News.
"Previous research has suggested that parenting roles and work roles, and home roles within same-sex parenting families are more equitably distributed when compared to heterosexual families," he said.
"So what this means is that people take on roles that are suited to their skill sets rather than falling into those gender stereotypes, which is mum staying home and looking after the kids and dad going out to earn money.
"What this leads to is a more harmonious family unit and therefore feeding on to better health and wellbeing."
On issues like self-esteem, mood, behavior, and temperament, the studied children of same-sex couples scored equal to kids raised by different-sex couples.
Based on his years of research, Couch, of the University of Melbourne, disagrees with those who claim kids need a mom and a dad.
"Quite often, people talk about marriage equality in the context of family and that marriage is necessary to raise children in the right environment, and that you need a mother and a father to be able to do that, and therefore marriage should be restricted to male and female couples," Dr Crouch said.
"I think what the study suggests in that context is that actually children can be brought up in many different family contexts, and it shouldn't be a barrier to marriage equality."
One year ago The New Civil Rights Movement reported on Crouch's study when interim results were published. Unlike highly-partisan "studies" paid for and designed by the religious right to be used as tools in Supreme Court cases, Crouch's study actually deals entirely with hundreds of same-sex couples, not just two same-sex couples.
by DAVID BADASH
July 07, 2014 7:00 AM