The Family and Health Illegitimacy is related to poor health at birth. Infants born to younger women are somewhat more likely to be born prematurely, and to die in the neonatal period. Very low birth weight babies are at high risk for serious complications and their treatments add significantly to the Medicaid cost of births for welfare mothers. The absence of married parents is related to retarded development in early childhood. The professional scientific literature amply documents the relationship to delays in development.
Illegitimate children tend to be shorter and have smaller heads.
This lack of control is usually an indication of problems in learning that will arise later in the child's development. The effect on boys is greater, at least in the early years. And such findings are in line with earlier studies. Once again, all of these effects were greater for boys. The absence of married parents risks emotional and behavioral problems at the end of childhood.