Assets among low-income families in the Great Recession

This paper examines the association between the Great Recession and real assets among families with young children. Real assets such as homes and cars are key indicators of economic well-being that may be especially valuable to low-income families. Using longitudinal data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N = 4,898), we investigate the association between the city unemployment rate and home and car ownership and how the relationship varies by family structure (married, cohabiting, and single parents) and by race/ethnicity (White, Black, and Hispanic mothers). Using mother fixed-effects models, we find that a one percentage point increase in the unemployment rate is associated with a -0.5 percentage point decline in the probability of home ownership and a -0.7 percentage point decline in the probability of car ownership. We also find that the recession was associated with lower levels of home ownership for cohabiting families and for Hispanic families, as well as lower car ownership among single mothers and among Black mothers, whereas no change was observed among married families or White households. Considering that homes and cars are the most important assets among middle and low-income households in the U.S., these results suggest that the rise in the unemployment rate during the Great Recession may have increased household asset inequality across family structures and race/ethnicities, limiting economic mobility, and exacerbating the cycle of poverty

Long-Term Effects of an HIV/STI Sexual Risk Reduction Intervention for Heterosexual Couples

This randomized clinical trial examined the relative efficacy of a relationship-based HIV/STI prevention intervention for women and their regular male sexual partners at 12 months post-intervention. A total of 217 couples were randomized to (1) a six-session intervention provided to the woman and her sexual partner together (n = 81); (2) the same intervention provided to the woman alone (n = 73); or (3) a one-session health information education “control” provided to the woman alone (n = 63). Findings suggest the intervention was efficacious in reducing unprotected sex at 12 months post-intervention, compared with the education control group. No significant differences were observed when comparing whether couples received the intervention together or when the woman received it alone

Evaluation of a longitudinal family stress model in a population‐based cohort

The family stress model (FSM) is an influential family process model that posits that socioeconomic disadvantage impacts child outcomes via its effects on the parents. Existing evaluations of the FSM are constrained by limited measures of socioeconomic disadvantage, cross‐sectional research designs, and reliance on non‐population‐based samples. The current study tested the FSM in a subsample of the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N = 2,918), a large population‐based study of children followed from birth through the age of nine. We employed a longitudinal framework and used measures of socioeconomic disadvantage beyond economic resources. Although the hypothesized FSM pathways were identified in the longitudinal model (e.g., economic pressure at the age of one was associated with maternal distress at the age of three, maternal distress at the age of three was associated with parenting behaviors at the age of five), the effects of socioeconomic disadvantage at childbirth on youth socioemotional outcomes at the age of nine did not operate through all of the hypothesized mediators. In longitudinal change models that accounted for the stability in constructs, multiple indicators of socioeconomic disadvantage at childbirth were indirectly associated with youth externalizing behaviors at the age of nine via either economic pressure at the age of one or changes in maternal warmth from ages 3 to 5. Greater economic pressure at the age of one, increases in maternal distress from ages 1 to 3, and decreases/increases in maternal warmth/harshness from ages 3 to 5 were also directly associated with increases in externalizing behaviors from ages 5 to 9. Results provide partial support for the FSM across the first decade of life.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/163397/2/sode12446.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/163397/1/sode12446_am.pd

Papers and proceedings of the conference on social policy and social work education, Arden House, April 22-25, 1957.

Mode of access: Internet

Public health social work in maternal and child health, a forward plan : report of the working conference of the Public Health Social Work Advisory Committee for the Bureau of Health Care Delivery and Assistance /

"Supported by a grant from the division of Maternal and Child Health,Bureau of Health Care Delivery and Assistance, Health Resources Administration. U.S. Public Health Service, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.Includes bibliographies.Mode of access: Internet

Poverty and social protection in Britain: policy developments since 1997

The goal of abolishing child poverty within a generation in Britain was set out by the New Labour government in 1999. It was pursued by means of promoting paid work, increasing selective benefits to make work pay and promoting prevention of some of the causes of poverty. Some progress was made but it fell far short of the target. The Coalition government formed in 2010 has maintained the broad goal and maintained parts of the previous strategy but it has modified policy in important respects. The policies and records of these governments are compared and the obstacles to reducing child poverty are discussed

Parental leave and child health across OECD countries

To understand the relationship between parental leave and child health better, this study examines the aggregate effects of parental leave policies on child health outcomes using data from 18 OECD countries -super-1 from 1969-2000. The focus is investigating the effects of both job-protected paid leave and other leave - including non-job-protected paid leave and unpaid leave - on child health outcomes, more specifically, infant mortality rates, low birth weight and child immunisation coverage. This study explores the effects of other social policies related to families and young children, such as public expenditures on family cash benefits, family allowances, and family services per child, on child health outcomes. Copyright 2005 Royal Economic Society.