Single mothers face many challenges but they tend to be happy, a new study suggests.
Researchers looked at women in Poland who gave birth while single. These women had to deal with numerous difficulties, including money problems, lack of partner support and social disapproval.
Even so, having a child did not lead to a decline in single women's happiness, according to the study published online recently in the Journal of Happiness Studies.
"An arrival of a child either had no impact or even increases the happiness of the single mothers," study co-author Anna Baranowska-Rataj, of Umea University in Sweden, said in a university news release.
Challenges faced by single mothers might somehow strengthen the bonds with their children, the researchers suggested.
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