Children with same-sex parents get higher scores on standardised tests than children with different-sex parents. This is the key finding from our study published today in the journal Demography.

We also found children with same-sex parents to be slightly more likely to graduate from high school, and much more likely to enrol in university than children with different-sex parents.

Our results challenge common arguments against same-sex parenting, and lend support to other scholarly perspectives that emphasise the benefits of being raised by a same-sex couple.

Same-sex parenting remains controversial

Over the last 50 years, there have been dramatic changes in social attitudes and legislation toward same-sex relations. Within this relatively short time frame, many countries have moved from criminalising same-sex relations to enabling same-sex couples to be formally recognised, marry and adopt children.

Despite these developments, same-sex parenting remains a highly controversial and politicised issue. And many people around the world still believe same-sex couples are incapable of being as good parents as different-sex couples.

These beliefs are often justified by “common wisdom” arguments. For instance, some argue that children need both male and female parental role models, that non-biological parents invest less effort in parenting their children, or that children with same-sex parents are subjected to shame and bullying.

But these arguments are rarely backed by solid empirical evidence.

Previous research has been problematic

In 2012, Mark Regnerus, a sociologist based at the University of Texas, Austin published a study that claimed people raised by same-sex parents had worse health and socioeconomic outcomes as adults than people raised by different-sex parents.

Since these conclusions were at odds with the bulk of previous research findings, other researchers attempted to replicate Regnerus’s results using the same data. Their re-analyses demonstrated the Regnerus study was plagued by an array of analytical problems.

Correcting for these issues, there were in fact minimal differences between the children raised by same-sex parents and married opposite-sex parents.