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(Boston, MA)  —  Single moms find life a little easier and the economic well-being of their children is helped when grandma moves in.  Researchers at the University of Southern California and University of Massachusetts, Boston combined their efforts.  They found children living in single-mother families that also include a grandparent are much less likely to be living below or even near the poverty line than children living in a home with only their mother.  Using data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation done in 2001, researchers discovered the presence of just one grandparent in the household drops the odds of living below the poverty line by 80%.  Two grandparents in the household give single moms and their kids an even bigger advantage.In the U.S. the average single mother household income is $27,619.  With grandparents pooling resources in the home that figure rises to just under $64,000 annually.  Study details will be in the November edition of “Journal of Family Issues.”

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