113 research outputs found
Family Structure and Income Volatility: Association with Food Stamp Program Participation
Using the Fragile Families and Child Well-Being Study, this paper investigates how income volatility and union stability and transitions influence patterns in Food Stamp Program (FSP) participation among a sample of young families (n=1263). Multinomial logistic regression models suggest that families that experience significant declines in income are related to constant and transitional participation. Families that stay married are more likely not to participate, while other stable unions (e.g., stably cohabitating couples and stably singles) and unions in transition are associated with always participating. We also found immigration status, health, public agency support, public health insurance, and housing assistance from the government or friends/family, to be significant in predicting participation. Strategies to increase participation are discussed.food stamp program participation, income volatility, union transitions, cohabitation, fragile families
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What Works in Early Childhood Education Programs?: A Meta-Analysis of Preschool Enhancement Programs
Research Findings: This study uses data from a comprehensive meta-analytic database of early childhood education (ECE) program evaluations published between 1960 and 2007 in the United States to examine the incremental effects of adding enhancement program components to ECE programs on childrenâs cognitive abilities, pre-academic skills, behavioral, health, and socio-emotional outcomes. Preschool enhancement programs include parenting programs, skill-based curricula, and teacher professional development programming. Our findings suggest that the addition of parent programs and skill-based curricula to ECE programs can result in improvements to a range of childrenâs ECE outcomes leading to better school readiness. We found no differences in the impacts of ECE programs with or without additional professional development enhancements. Practice or Policy: Designing fully-developed parent programs by explicitly targeting parents, developing academically focused and skill-based curricula, and providing additional teacher professional development enhancements to existing ECE programs can have a substantial impact on a range of childrenâs ECE outcomes leading to better school readiness. Further research is needed in order to determine what conditions are essential to enhancement program success as well as what conditions have negligible effects on or inhibit childrenâs school readiness
ParenthoodâA Contributing Factor to Childhood Obesity
Prevalence of childhood obesity and its complications have increased world-wide. Parental status may be associated with childrenâs health outcomes including their eating habits, body weight and blood cholesterol. The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) for the years 1988â1994, provided a unique opportunity for matching parents to children enabling analyses of joint demographics, racial differences and health indicators. Specifically, the NHANES III data, 1988â1994, of 219 households with single-parents and 780 dual-parent households were analyzed as predictors for primary outcome variables of childrenâs Body Mass Index (BMI), dietary nutrient intakes and blood cholesterol. Children of single-parent households were significantly (p < 0.01) more overweight than children of dual-parent households. Total calorie and saturated fatty acid intakes were higher among children of single-parent households than dual-parent households (p < 0.05). On average, Black children were more overweight (p < 0.04) than children of other races. The study results implied a strong relationship between single-parent status and excess weight in children. Further studies are needed to explore the dynamics of single-parent households and its influence on childhood diet and obesity. Parental involvement in the development of school- and community-based obesity prevention programs are suggested for effective health initiatives. Economic constraints and cultural preferences may be communicated directly by family involvement in these much needed public health programs
Housing: An Under-Explored Influence on Childrenâs Well-Being and Becoming
Research on housing has tended to focus on adult outcomes, establishing relationships between housing and a number of aspects of health and well-being. Research exploring the influence of housing on children has been more limited, and has tended to focus on adult concerns around risk behaviours, behavioural problems and educational attainment. While these outcomes are important, they neglect the impact of housing on childrenâs lives beyond these concerns. There are a number of reasons to believe that housing would play an important role in childrenâs well-being more broadly. Family stress and strain models highlight how housing difficulties experienced by adults may have knock on effects for children, while Bronfenbrennerâs ecological approach to human development emphasises the importance of childrenâs experiences of their environments, of which the home is among the most important. This paper summaries the existing evidence around housing and child outcomes, predominantly educational and behavioural outcomes, and argues for the extension of this work to consider the impact of housing on childrenâs lives more broadly, especially their subjective well-being
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Parental employment circumstances and childrenâs academic progress
Using data from the 1996 Survey of Income and Program Participation, we examine 4476 school-age children in 2569 families with matched pairs of married fathers and mothers to study childrenâs academic progress as a function of fathersâ and mothersâ employment circumstances, with a particular focus on involuntary employment separations. We draw on weekly work histories, collected at 4-month intervals, to characterize parental employment circumstances over a two-year period. Results find no significant associations between mothersâ employment experiences and childrenâs academic progress, even in households where mothers earn more than fathers. In contrast, fathersâ experience of involuntary employment separations is associated with childrenâs academic progress. On average, fathersâ experience of involuntary employment separations is associated with a higher likelihood of childrenâs grade repetition and suspension/expulsion from school. However, subgroup analyses reveal this association only in households where mothers earn more than fathers. We conclude that the adverse impacts of fathersâ involuntary employment separations in two-parent families have less to do with income losses than with family dynamics
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