Poor Parents, Poor Parenting? Judy Corlyon The Tavistock Institute Parents on the Breadline Conference Edinburgh 10 th November 2010.

Slides:



Advertisements
Similar presentations
AIDS Affected Children Access to Education It is important to note that AIDS affected children are constantly excluded from education both from inside.
Advertisements

Identifying when parenting capacity results in neglect
Home and pre-school influences on early language and reading Evidence from the Effective Pre-school, Primary and Secondary Education (EPPSE) project.
Caring. Carers Paid Social Carers: Staff who work with people in residential care homes, in day centres and who provide care in someone’s home Unpaid.
Working with you for Better Health Family Nurse Partnership Jayne Snell Family Nurse Supervisor Clare Brackenbury Family Nurse.
Children and Poverty McLoyd (1998) Childhood poverty is a major problem in the US –Over 22% of children in the US live in poverty as compared to 9% in.
Tackling Family Poverty Morag Stewart Deputy Director of Public Health NHS Luton.
CHILD PROTECTION THEORIES OF ABUSE Tassoni et al (2005) pp76-77.
Christina Pantazis University of Bristol. Policy Lessons from the UK The 1999 Poverty and Social Exclusion Survey of Britain found that the experience.
Wellbeing Watch: a monitor of health, wealth and happiness in the Hunter Shanthi Ramanathan.
Life course influences in later life Understanding impact of life course events on health and well-being is vital for effective policy development. Institute.
Conway Hall, London June 2014 Third Peter Townsend Memorial Conference Poverty and Social Exclusion in the UK.
The Extent of Poverty in the UK How Many People are Poor and Deprived and How Do We Know? David Gordon Professor of Social Justice Townsend Centre for.
POVERTY UK Just under 1 in 4 people in the UK live in poverty That’s 13 million people Total population in UK is 60 million.
Resilience and its Relationship with the 5-Step Method Professor Richard Velleman Emeritus Professor of Mental Health Research, University of Bath, UK.
The Role of AbilityFirst Regarding the Social Development of Children With Developmental Disabilities Student Name Social Science 193B UCI Spring 2006.
Write down the causes of poverty
(c) 2006 by Pearson Education. All Rights Reserved. American Families Beirne-Smith et al. Mental Retardation, Seventh Edition Copyright ©2006 Pearson Education,
The Effects of Poverty on Female-Headed Households Tammy Howard University of Tennessee at Chattanooga BSW Social Work Program Spring 2007 SOCW 376.
Divorce statistics The U.S. has the highest divorce rate in the world. Currently, 45% of American marriages end in divorce. About ¼ of children live in.
What influences English and Mathematics attainment at age 11? Evidence from the EPPSE project.
Poverty in the UK. Lesson Objectives I will get the opportunity to develop my understanding of the difference between two measures of poverty: absolute.
Chapter 7: Work and Retirement
Neil Reardon, Brynteg Comprehensive School, Bridgend
The Risk Factors of Severe Child Poverty in the UK Monica Magadi Department of Sociology School of Social Sciences City University, London.
LESSON 7.5: CHILD MALTREATMENT Module 7: Violence Obj. 7.5: Explain the role of safe, stable, and nurturing parent-child relationships to children’s health.
Child Poverty in Scotland: an overview.
Running on Fumes... An Assessment of Fuel Poverty and its Impact on Social Inclusion in Ireland Maria Mileder October, 2014.
A Reversal of Misfortune: who are the poor relations now? Judy Corlyon The Tavistock Institute Parenting Across Scotland Conference Dundee 12 th March.
Building Strong Families
Education and inequality: ‘doing the right thing?' Professor Emma Smith School of Education.
The Incredible Years Programs Preventing and Treating Conduct Problems in Young Children (ages 2-8 years)
Childhood Neglect: Improving Outcomes for Children Presentation P13 Childhood Neglect: Improving Outcomes for Children Presentation Understanding family.
Links to Positive Parenting among African American and Hispanic American Low-Income Mothers Laura D. Pittman Psychology Department Northern Illinois University.
Irene Y.H. Ng Ministry of Community Development Youth and Sports (MCYS) Community Development Councils Research team: Ho Kong Weng,
No Wrong Door conference October 23 rd 2012 Gill Main Bernie Flanagan - CYC Debbie Adair - CYC.
Gill Main International Society for Child Indicators conference 2011.
The Reality of Child Poverty Nick Jones.
Approaches to Parenting Chapter 3. What Influences Parenting?
Families Parent-Adolescent Conflict Issues to Focus on… Why is there a marked increase in parent-adolescent conflict? What do parents & adolescents argue.
Functions of Families: Survival of offspring Economic Function Cultural Training.
Social Exclusion in the UK Ruth Levitas and Eldin Fahmy University of Bristol 19 June 2014 Third Peter Townsend Memorial Conference Poverty and Social.
Economic diversity. Activity Compare your lifestyle with the lifestyle of the Beckhams. What differences might there be and why? Compare your lifestyle.
Including material from: Teresa M. McDevitt and Jeanne Ellis Ormrod Child Development and Education, 3rd edition, 2007 Copyright ©2007 by Pearson Education,
THE SOCIAL JUSTICE CHALLENGE OF ASSETS: A PROPOSAL Britain and Europe in the Global Age: Common Challenges, New Opportunities Policy Network, London, 1.
The Family Parents play 3 roles: Direct instructors
Family & Social Health Family’s Influence on Student Behaviors
Factors Affecting Health
REMEMBER Why are elderly people likely to live in poverty. Give 4 reasons.
Psy 311: Family Costs of Divorce 1) NEGATIVES: l (Societal stigma) l Loss of a parent or parenting unit.
Family Characteristics Effect of parental separation on children's behavior 13.8% of children born in experienced parental separation before age.
Child poverty and social exclusion in Scotland Gill Main University of York Scotland People’s Centre, Edinburgh 20 th August 2014 Poverty and Social Exclusion.
Contingent parental investment: An evolutionary framework for understanding early interaction between mothers and children David Beaulieu, Daphne Bugental.
National and Local Profile of Child Poverty Mark Willis, CPAG in Scotland.
Poverty in Scotland Nick Bailey, Kirsten Besemer, Glen Bramley & Maria Gannon University of Glasgow/Heriot-Watt University.
Socialization Socialization (text): the process by which an individual becomes a member of a particular culture and takes on its values, beliefs and other.
1 Targeting the intolerable Targeting the intolerable The International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour.
Coping Skills for Children of Drug Addicted and Mentally/Emotionally Challenged Parents 04/13/2016.
REGIONAL ATTENDANCE INITIATIVE North Metropolitan Education Region THE IMPORTANCE OF GOOD ATTENDANCE. -GIVING YOUR CHILD THE BEST START TO THEIR SCHOOLING.
Tackling Poverty in the Context of Reducing Public Sector Spend and Benefit Changes: Emerging Challenges for Eilean Siar, Scotland and the UK: Dr John.
“Would this be good enough for my child?”. Why do children become 'looked after'? Affected by distressing and damaging experiences including physical.
Family. The Family Families form a system of interacting elements Parents and children influence one another Parents influence their children both directly.
Young People and The Digital World Building resilience for the future Sarah Brennan Chief Executive,
Socioeconomic Status at the Extremes: Associations with Parenting H607: Ethnicity, Context, and Family Dynamics.
Introduction (Action for Children and me)
PSYC 206 Lifespan Development Bilge Yagmurlu.
A role for libraries in tackling child poverty?
What do we know about social isolation and loneliness in Devon?
SOCIAL ETHNIC.
Psychology 235 Dr. Blakemore
Presentation transcript:

Poor Parents, Poor Parenting? Judy Corlyon The Tavistock Institute Parents on the Breadline Conference Edinburgh 10 th November 2010

The presentation Children affected by poverty ‘Good’ parenting Some research and theories about the negative effect of poverty on parenting: –Stress –Culture of poverty –Environment or neighbourhood What don’t we know What can we conclude

How many? In 2008/09: 2.8 million UK children in poverty before housing costs. After housing costs, nearly 4 million 0.1m less than 2007/08 Government’s target: reduction to 1.7 million in 2010–11 (before housing costs)

Who are they?

What does it (not) mean for children? 1 week’s holiday a year away from home with the family Swimming at least once a month A hobby or leisure activity Friends round for tea or a snack once a fortnight Not sharing a bedroom with a sibling of the opposite sex if 10+ Leisure equipment (e.g. sports equipment or bicycle) Celebrations on special occasions such as birthdays, Christmas or other religious festivals Play group/nursery/toddler group at least once a week A school trip at least once a term

What does it (not) mean for parents? Home adequately warm and in decent state of repair Two pairs of all-weather shoes for each adult Yearly 1-week holiday away, not with relatives Replacing worn out furniture A small amount of money to spend on self each week Regular savings (of £10 a month) for rainy days or retirement Home contents insurance Friends or family for a drink/meal at least once a month A hobby or leisure activity Replacing/repairing broken electrical goods

What does extra money mean ? Having a bit of money means I can do something extra with them (the children) – go to a farm or go swimming – at the end of the week when the money (from benefits) has run out. It’s only £20 but it’s a day out for myself and my son. We don’t get treats otherwise.

But does it mean poor parenting? What is ‘good’ parenting? According to whom? Baumrind: = Authoritative parenting Parents are demanding but also responsive vs Permissive: more responsive than demanding Authoritarian: demanding, directive, not responsive In all cultures, parents with lower incomes tend to use authoritarian. Are these middle-class perceptions?

Influencing factors The ecological model – Parenting is a complex web of interacting factors Belsky and Vondra: adequate parenting stems from –Contextual sources of stress and support –Family and child characteristics –Parents’ developmental history and own psychological resources

Research (1) Waylen and Stewart Brown (2008): parents of young children in different social and cultural groups Cumulative effect on parenting of poor health, lack of social support and financial hardship Deterioration in finances led to slight reduction in parenting score But improvement did not increase it Nor did more social support Most influential was improvement in mothers’ mental and physical health

Stress theory Materially disadvantaged parents face more stress than affluent parents It causes them to be depressed and irritable This affects their parenting and they are more likely to be harsh and inconsistent Typically has negative effect on outcomes for children More money alone (especially small amounts in benefits) is not the solution. Other factors affect parenting And the effect of children on parents’ levels of stress???

Research (2) Ermisch et al (2001): growing up in poor families points to lower educational expectations, less likelihood of employment and propensity for early motherhood Yaqub (2002): people’s class, education and health are similar to their parents’. But these can be counteracted (e.g. by resilience) … there is huge scope for many, if not most, individuals to escape from the patterns and tendencies. An important area for further research is to examine more closely the characteristics of individuals who escape…. ( Hobcraft, 1998)

Culture of Poverty Inter-generational poverty creates barriers to upward mobility Because of low educational expectations, harsh parenting, conformity, no commitment to the labour force And parents replicate their own parenting experiences Reducing stress through more money and better environments will not work Changing attitudes/parenting styles is the answer But do affluent parents use their advantages to ensure power and privilege for their children?

Research (3) Studies in the US: a) moving to a near-poor/non-poor area improved mothers’ mental health + children less depressed and anxious (Leventhal and Brooks-Gunn 2003) But b) little effect on children’s outcomes (Sanbonmatsu 2006) UK study in 4 neighbourhoods (3 deprived): In deprived areas – mothers with stress, children with behavioural problems In affluent area – more progressive parental views Only difference in use of discipline was in inner-city area Most parents cope well

Environment Complementary to other theories Neighbourhood as well as personal characteristics influence parenting But effect is not significant: parents’ background, child’s personality and family dynamics are more important Poverty does not have direct relationship with parenting. But parents are more stressed …parenting in poor environments is a more risky business than parenting elsewhere. ( Ghate and Hazel 2002 )

Limits of research Studies of parenting & poverty do not give a holistic view of parents’ lives Usually confined to snap-shots, not the depth or movement in and out of poverty Not enough known about the differential effects between parents with children of different ages Parenting usually = mothering

Conclusions No clear-cut, causal link between poverty and parenting Individual responses to hardship governed by family structure, neighbourhood and social support plus parents’ temperaments, beliefs and own experiences to being parented Stress is major influence. Stress → depression → disrupted parenting → poorer outcomes for children Unclear if improved outcomes come from improved parenting or better access to resources (e.g. housing). Or both Most parents in poverty cope well with adversity

What can be done? No strong evidence that tackling material deprivation through welfare to work, benefit increases etc. will improve parenting or outcomes for children Possible answer is promoting parents’ (especially mothers’) mental and physical health + improving parenting generally

Contact Judy Corlyon Tavistock Insitute