Twenty times higher for children living with cohabiting but unmarried biological parents. Thirty-three times higher for children living with a biological mother who is cohabiting with a man who isn't their father. These statistics apply to a broad cross-section of society. They don't say what will happen in all single-parent and blended families. They do, however, show trends that need to be counteracted by conscious parental care and consideration.
Research shows that abuse is less likely to occur in healthy home environments.
But the pattern is reversed when children are denied the model of a loving mom and dad. Trends for the future are not good. Loss Of Innocence. The experiences of infancy and childhood have great influence on adult behavior. In her 1981 book Children Without Childhood, author Marie Winn describes how our culture has changed from nurturing children to providing them with early exposure to adult experience in the hope of preparing them for the challenges of life.