A report by the national specialist information service for unmarried parents has said the negative impact of crisis pregnancy is still evident on both the mother and child even after the child had turned three years of age.
The report by Treoir analysed data from parts one and two of the Growing Up in Ireland study.
Growing Up in Ireland is a major longitudinal study of children undertaken by the Economic and Social Research Institute and Trinity College Dublin with Government funding.
It collected information on more than 11,000 children and their parents when the children were nine months and then at three years of age.
The research found that mothers who had a crisis pregnancy experienced greater levels of stress and depression.
Their children had a higher likelihood of poorer health with more visits to the GP.
It also found nearly 60% of single mothers do not have jobs.
The main reasons for this were difficulty arranging and paying for childcare and lack of incentives to get them back to work.
Treoir has said it is concerned by the current policy of the Department of Social Protection.
"Changes to the One Parent Family Payment, the discontinuation of training allowances for those on Solas [Further Education and Training Authority] programmes and the fact people can't claim OFP while on a Community Employment scheme has meant a reduction in the numbers of lone parents returning to employment", Treoir's Chairperson Dr Ruth Barrington said at this morning's launch of the report.
The research also found that two out of three children in the study were in contact with their non-resident father at the age of three.
However, only 35% of these fathers made regular financial contributions towards the care of their children.
