Do schools discriminate against single parents? Evidence from a randomized correspondence experiment

Abstract

Single parenthood is on the rise everywhere in the world. Previous studies show that acceptance of single parent headed households is increasing, although some authors point out that single-parent families are often considered as a reality rather than as an ideal. This circumstance may cause negative attitudes against single parents, who are among the most vulnerable groups of society. Motivated by these findings, in this study, we examine for the first time whether schools are more reluctant to give feedback to single parents than to heterosexual couples during children's pre-registration period in Catalonia (Spain). To do so, we design a correspondence experiment to be conducted in schools. We create three types of fictitious families (heterosexual couple, single mother and single father) and send e-mails to schools in which the family structure is explicit. Our results indicate that single parents benefit from positive discrimination. Schools are more prone to interact with single parents than with heterosexual couples. Further, single mothers receive more answers than single fathers. Keywords: Single parents, heterosexual couples, schools, discrimination, field experiment