New research finds that parents and their children can thrive in an unlikely environment.

An Ohio State University study has shown that slightly more than half of unmarried low-income couples have successful co-parenting relationships — leading their children to be seen as more empathetic, without emotional insecurity, and with fewer behavioral issues.

The study was published this month in the Journal of Marriage and Family.

“We found that 56% of these families had good co-parenting relationships which was linked to positive outcomes for their children,” lead author Susan Yoon explained. “Our findings really highlight the strengths these families exhibit.”

Over 4,000 unmarried, low-income, racially and ethnically diverse couples in eight US cities were observed — researchers noted their teamwork skills and their perception of their partner’s support.

Mothers were asked about the socio-emotional development of their preschool-aged child, including their empathy for other kids, their emotional security or lack thereof, and their behavior when facing adversity.

Couples fell into four categories based on their responses.

Despite facing stressors such as financial troubles, racism, and lack of support, 56% of the families had good co-parenting relationships — which was linked to positive outcomes for the children.

“This is the category where the children had the best outcomes, and it is encouraging that this was the largest group in our study,” said Yoon, an OSU associate professor of social work.

Other categories showed children struggled when parents felt their partner was not supportive.

The worst grouping, which covered about a quarter of the participants, saw fathers having negative thoughts towards the mother’s parenting approach.

“These findings suggest that fathers’ dissatisfaction might be an important warning sign for children’s poor functioning, even though co-parenting seemed relatively good,” Yoon noted.

Researchers found that high-income and educated parents also exhibited successful co-parenting as well. But Yoon says there’s more to it than just that.

“Overall, we found that it isn’t just the quality of co-parenting that matters for children, it is also important to look at whether both the mother and father are satisfied with how things are going,” she emphasized. “It is not good if there is a discrepancy between how mothers and fathers feel about the co-parenting relationship.”