Single mothers experience poorer health and have a higher risk of developing mental health problems, according to a major new study.
A total of 25,000 women aged 50 and over took part in the global research project, run at universities all over the world.
Researchers found that women who lived in England, Scandinavia and the United States were particularly at risk.
Women who were parenting solo before the age of 20 or who were single as the result of divorce were more likely to experience health issues later in life, as were mothers who raised children alone for more than eight years and had two or more children.
Single mothers were more likely to be younger and poorer than married mums and mothers in relationships.
One in three American women had been a single mother before the age of 50, compared to one in five women surveyed in England and Western Europe. In Denmark and Sweden four out of ten women were single mothers and one in ten women in Southern Europe raised their children alone.
The study was published in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health.
