Psych 465: Poverty And Development

Front 1

Themes for the Course

Back 1

“Psychological” focus

Interconnections and Relationships:

Age Effects

Risk and Resilience:

Front 2

Resilience:

Back 2

manifested competence in the context of significant challenges to adaptation or development.

Front 3

NCCP Factsheet - 2008:
Which facts / statistics did you find most surprising?

Why are young children especially likely to be poor, even compared to older children?

How do parental employment, education, and family structure relate to children being poor?

How do age, race / ethnicity, and region relate to children being poor?

Back 3

Notes

Front 4

Aspen Institute (Conway & Moy, 2005)

What facts / issues did you find most interesting / disturbing?

Education, work, and wealth disparities are discussed. Which of these do you think is an especially important issue to address in order to prevent poverty among children?

Back 4

Notes

Front 5

The many scandals described in the article show how the poor / working class are victimized. Why is there so little awareness of this reality and so much “blaming the victim?”

Why do you think there is such rampant abuse by check cashing service providers, rent-to-own centers, etc.?

There seems to be general agreement that predatory lending practices are wrong and should be ended, but what kinds of home-buying options should be available for the working poor?

What are the connections between the current economic crisis and the various abuses noted in this report?

What do you think should be done to address the issues described in this report?

What are the most important lessons you learned about the “high cost of being poor?”

Back 5

Notes

Front 6

Protective Factors

Back 6

promote positive outcomes for children at risk.

Front 7

Types of Protective Factors:

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Individual characteristics of the child (intelligence, easy temperament, talents, high self-esteem, etc.)

Family factors (supportive parent / parent figure, “Authoritative” parenting style, etc.)

Community resources (organizations, clubs, community centers, etc. )

Front 8

Intro Theories / Models (4)

Back 8

Ecological Systems Theory (Bronfenbrenner)

Life Course Theory (Elder)

Psychological Distress Model (McLoyd)

Family Process Model (Conger)

Front 9

Bronfenbrenner’s EST - Model (5 levels)

Back 9

Microsystem: context in which children live and interact with people and institutions closest to them (parents, etc.).

Mesosystem: connections among components of microsystem.

Exosystem: settings / contexts that affect the child indirectly (example: parent’s work environment).

Macrosystem: values, ideologies, cultural beliefs of a society
.
Chronosystem: all systems change over time.

Front 10

Life Course Theory (Glen Elder)
(4 principles)

Back 10

Historical Time and Place: the life course of individuals is embedded in and shaped by the historical times and places experienced during one’s life.

Timing: the developmental impact of life transitions / events is contingent on when they occur in a person’s life.

Linked Lives: Lives are interdependent, and social and historical influences are expressed through networks of shared relationships.

Human Agency: Individuals construct their own life course through the choices and actions they take within the opportunities and constraints of history and social circumstances.

Front 11

Vonnie McLoyd’s Work:

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1989: Socialization and development in a changing economy: The effects of paternal job and income loss on children.

1990: Impact of economic hardship on Black families and children: Psychological distress, parenting, and socioemotional development.
- Model depicting mediators and moderators of how poverty affects parenting and child outcomes (e.g., parental psychological distress)

1998: Socioeconomic disadvantage and child development. (will post)

Front 12

Rand Conger: Iowa Youth & Families Project

Back 12

1992: A family process model of economic hardship and adjustment of early adolescent boys.

1993: Family economic stress and adjustment of early adolescent girls.

Family Process Model: Many studies of low-income families with children support this model…

Front 13

Child poverty rates vary by (6)

Back 13

Age
Ethnicity
Geographic region
Living arrangements
Parental work status
Parental education level

Front 14

Types of Poverty Measures
(4 kinds, 7 measures)

Pros / cons of the various measures?

Which do YOU think are especially
interesting or important?

Back 14

Absolute measures: Poverty thresholds, Basic family budgets

Relative measures: % median income

Income-based measures: Income-needs ratio, SES

Non-income measures:Food insecurity / hunger, Economic pressure

CHART

Front 15

Classism

Definition

Power and moral exclusion

Back 15

Distancing, denigration, discrimination, stereotyping, or prejudice based on social class

separating US vs. THEM enables those with power to exclude and dehumanize those without power.

Front 16

Cognitive Distancing

Stereotypes about the poor (examples?)

Poverty explained by moral deficiency and lack of personal responsibility – why so prevalent?

Variability in views: what groups are especially likely to view poverty as result of personal failures?

Back 16

Notes

Front 17

Institutional Distancing

Back 17

Education: two-tiered system – one that promotes success for the middle-class, one that promotes failure for the poor. (pre-NCLB)

Housing: geographic isolation of the poor, proximity to environmental hazards, displacement resulting from urban renewal efforts.

Health Care and Legal Assistance: being poor associated with discriminatory practices by doctors, hospitals, lawyers, etc.

Politics and Public Policies: widespread misconception that the poor get more perks than tax-paying middle class Americans.

Front 18

Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA, 1996):

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AFDC replaced with TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families)

Block grants to states, with states given authority to modify some requirements.

“Devolution” of assistance from federal government to state governments.

Very controversial, but considered to be generally “successful.”

Front 19

Welfare Work Requirements

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Recipients must work. Single parents must work 30 hours per week (Bush Administration wanted to increase this to 40 hours).

Recipients not employed must participate in job-training, community service, or designated job search activities.

Supports for families transitioning to work (1 year of transitional Medicaid, child care support).

States required to develop personal employment plans for recipients.

Front 20

Welfare Diversionary Assistance (time limits)

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5-year (60 month) lifetime limit on receiving welfare. States can exempt up to 20% of cases from this limit and have option to provide non-cash assistance (food stamps, etc.) for families that time out.

$1 billion available as rewards to states that manage to move welfare recipients into jobs.

Front 21

Welfare Personal Responsibility

Back 21

Comprehensive child support enforcement: crackdown on non-paying parents, states required to enforce child support in order to be eligible to get TANF block grants.

Paternity establishment required.

Teen parents required to live at home and to stay in school.

$50 million per year for teen pregnancy prevention.

Family cap (benefits denied to children born to welfare recipients).
Denial of benefits for most legal immigrants for 5 years or until they attain citizenship.

Sanctions for non-compliance.

Front 22

Hard to Serve” Cases / Families

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States have dedicated funds for “hard to serve” cases (5% of caseload, for example), or cases where there are serious barriers to employment:
Substance abuse
Criminal histories or ongoing legal problems
Domestic violence
Involvement with Child Welfare
Chronic health problems (mental or physical)
Very low basic skills (literacy issues )
Language barriers

Front 23

NC Welfare "Work First" (6 facts)

Back 23

Began July 1995

Parents receive short-term training, child care assistance, and other services.

Two-year time limit, can reapply after 3 years (60-month federal limit).

Diversionary Assistance: families facing emergencies can receive up to 3 months cash assistance, food stamps, and Medicaid if the they off welfare.

“First Stop” Employment Assistance Program: Parents must sign a Mutual Responsibility Agreement in order to receive aid.

Increased limits on savings and cars, higher income eligibility limits for subsidized child care for low-income working families.

Front 24

NC Welfare "Work First" Cont. (4 points)

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Early 2008: NC caseload = 46,103 (up 1.2%)

“Standard” and “Electing” Counties

Electing Counties (2008-2009):
Beauford, Caldwell, Catawba, Iredell, Lenoir, Lincoln, Macon, Wilson

Electing Counties developed own plans for using TANF block grant funds (many include features of standard state program).

Front 25

Bush Agenda: “Working Toward Independence” (5 points)

Back 25

Increase minimum work requirements (70% of welfare recipients working full-time by 2007).

40 hour work week required for welfare recipients instead of current 30 hour work week.

More money from child support payments given to welfare-reliant mothers.

Encourage healthy marriages and 2-parent families as a goal ($300 million for marriage programs).

Increase allowances for states to coordinate child care and other non-cash work support services for welfare recipients.
Allowances for legal immigrants to receive food stamps 5 years after entry to US (to ensure that vulnerable legal immigrants get adequate nutrition). 5-year ban on benefits for non-citizens will continue.

Front 26

Obama Agenda: Poverty
Name and 3 principles

Back 26

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
Guiding Principles:
Expand Opportunity: creating opportunities for all Americans to move toward middle class status. Strategies focus on making work pay, expanding access to affordable housing, building job skills.

Stem the Tide: helping families hit hard by the economic crisis by ensuring they have basic needs met (food, housing, work).

Strengthen Families: promoting responsible fatherhood, home visits by professionals to low-income first-time mothers, improvements in child nutrition (school lunches, focus on healthy eating at home, exercise)

Front 27

Obama Agenda: Poverty Cont
Name and 6 Investments

Back 27

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act: Investments
$20 billion increase in Food Stamps / SNAP, funding for food banks and WIC

$2 billion in Neighborhood Stabilization Funds, $1.5 billion in Homelessness Prevention Funds
$5 billion for home weatherization, to help low-income families save on energy bills by making their homes energy efficient

$ 3.95 billion in Workforce Investment, including green job training and summer jobs for young people

Increased income supports: $25 per week increase in Unemployment Insurance, incentives for states to expand eligibility for UI, $250 payments to SS and SSI beneficiaries, and new resources for TANF families

Tax breaks for working families (Make Work Pay) and Child Tax Credits

Front 28

Recent Trends in Welfare Caseloads (5 points)

Back 28

Welfare caseloads have increased in 38 states (2008-2009).

In 13 states, TANF rolls increased by more than 10%.

12 states experienced decreases in TANF rolls: Texas (-9.5%), Georgia, Nebraska, Rhode Island, Indiana, Alaska.

States where caseloads rise can receive additional federal funds to pay for the increase in cash assistance.

States with largest TANF increase 2008-2009:
Wyoming (34%)
Utah (30%)
Oregon (27%)
South Carolina (23%)
New Hampshire (19%)

Front 29

Example Secondary Data Sets

Back 29

NLSY (National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, Children of the NLSY)
PSID (Panel Study of Income Dynamics)
IHDP (Infant Health Development Project)
NICHD Study of Early Child Care

Front 30

Example Primary Data Sets

Back 30

Three-Cities Study of Welfare Reform: Impact of poverty and welfare reform in Boston, Chicago, San Antonio (http://www.jhu.edu/~welfare/)

New Hope Project: Welfare Demonstration Project in Milwaukee, WI (lots more later…)
Family Life Project: Large-scale study of poverty and child development in rural settings. UNC/Penn State

Front 31

Primary vs. Secondary Data sets

Back 31

Primary Data Sets- Poverty Studies: Large or small studies, often target specific regions or communities.

Secondary Data Analyses: large longitudinal data sets used to test predictors of positive and negative outcomes for poor vs. non-poor children and families.

Front 32

Fragile Families and Child Well-being Study

Back 32

Longitudinal study of low-income parents 1998-2000

Families in 20 large cities in 15 states, 5000 children

Data collected in hospital following birth, then at 1, 3, and 5 years after birth of child.

Surveys, qualitative measures,
observations, administrative records, neighborhood data.

Key Questions
Why do some low-income parents marry and other do not?
Roles of health, employment, education, income, relationship quality, mental health?

Front 33

Research Brief # 14: Union Formation and Dissolution

Back 33

How do the status categories change 12 m. following birth?

What % of unmarried parents get married by the time the child is 12m.?

How do earnings and relationship quality relate to the likelihood of marriage?

Front 34

Research Brief # 16: Barriers to Marriage

Back 34

How do married vs. unmarried parents differ on father’s employment, mental health problems, and domestic violence?

Front 35

5 Groups of Unmarried Parents

Back 35

“Marriageable” (romantic, father working, no mental health problems, no domestic violence) = 36%.
Romantic, father not working = 10%
Romantic, mental health / drug / alcohol problem = 23%
Romantic, domestic violence problem = 13%
Not romantically involved = 18%

(46% of romantically involved unmarried couples have serious problems that might deter marriage)

Front 36

Marriage Attitudes, barriers to marriage

Back 36

Financial Stability: (74.5%) Necessity of getting finances in order before getting married (having a consistent income, acquisition of assets, saving money for wedding).

2) Relationship Quality: (57.4%)Need to continue cohabiting in order to “gather information” on partner, importance of getting to know good and bad aspects of partner before marriage.

3) Fear of Divorce: (42.6%) Marriage viewed as sacred, divorce not an option, need to be certain about love lasting a lifetime. (*63.8% expressed multiple barriers)

Front 37

How does the duration of poverty affect child outcomes?

Back 37

Chronic poverty is associated with more negative effects on child outcomes than intermittent poverty.

Chronic: long-term economic hardship, sometimes spanning generations.

Intermittent: temporary economic hardship, usually resulting from job loss, divorce, etc. Families eventually return to financial stability.

Front 38

How does the depth of poverty affect outcomes?

Back 38

The lowest cognitive outcome scores were found in children from “extremely poor” households (Smith, Brooks-Gunn, & Klebanov, 1997).

Protective factors (for example, “completed schooling”) were especially important for youth in families with incomes below $20,000, compared to those above $20,000 (Duncan et al., 1998).

Front 39

Dimensions of Parental Behavior

Back 39

Emotionality / Warmth:responsiveness, acceptance, supportiveness, etc.

- Control: firmness, discipline, demandingness, etc

Front 40

Baumrind’s Parenting Styles

Back 40

Authoritative
Warmth High
Control High

Authoritarian
Warmth Low
Control High

Permissive / Indulgent
Warmth High
Control Low

Neglectful / Uninvolved
Warmth Low
Control Low

Front 41

Does spanking harm children?

Back 41

Yes! Meta-analysis by Gershoff (2002): Spanking is a risk factor for negative child outcomes, especially externalizing behavior problems, and may explain the increased behavior problems found among lower-income children.

Not Always! Research by Baumrind (2003): Spanking is only harmful under certain conditions, otherwise OK.

Front 42

What is it about poverty that leads to “less-optimal” parenting behaviors?

Back 42

Lower warmth / responsiveness
More punitiveness, physical punishment, abuse
Lack of knowledge about child development
Less monitoring, especially older teens
Lower involvement in schooling, less advocacy on children’s behalf

Front 43

Common parenting codes:

Back 43

Sensitivity, warmth, responsiveness
Affect / Regard (positive, negative)
Intrusiveness
Detachment / disengagement
Hostility / negative control
Cognitive stimulation
Quality of relationship

Front 44

Adolescent Mothers and Positive Child Adjustment (Rhule, 2006)

What are some of the negative CHILD outcomes associated with adolescent motherhood?

What negative MOTHER outcomes have been found?

Describe protective factors that have been associated with positive child adjustment.

What were the 3 research goals of this study?

Briefly describe the sample and methods.

What child outcome variables were studied?

What predictor variables were studied?

What did the results indicate for each of the 3 research questions?

What do you think is the most important take-home message from this study?

Back 44

Notes

Front 45

Recent Trends in Poverty (3 categories)

Back 45

2008 poverty rate = 13.2%, 39.8 million people officially poor (up from 12.5% in 2007, significant increase)
2008 median household income = $50,303 (significant decline)
Whites = $55,530
Asians = $65,637
Hispanics = $37,913
Blacks = $34,218

2008 poverty rates by group:
Whites = 8.6% (signif. Increase)
Asians =11.8% (signif. Increase)
Hispanics = 23.2% (signif. Increase)
Blacks = 24.7% (not signif.)

Front 46

Recent Trends in Poverty cont. (4 points)

Back 46

% without health insurance = 15.4%, 46.3 million people
Uninsured children: 9.9%, 7.3 million (decreased = good)
In 2008, women earned 77 cents for every dollar earned by men (down from 78 cents).

Poverty rates by family type:
Married couples: 5.5% (increased)
Female headed, no husband: 28.7% (increased)
Male headed, no wife: 13.8% (increased)

Poverty rates by age:
Over 65: 9.7% (unchanged)
Children <18: 19.0% (increased)
Adults 18-64: 11.7% (increased)

Front 47

Contemporary Portrait of Multiple-Partner Fertility (Child Trends, 2006)

Back 47

1 in 7 men has children with multiple partners by age 40.
Men with MPF tend to have more children than those having children by just one mother (36% of MPF men have 4+ children vs. 18% of one-partner men).
82% of MPF men have only 2 partners (14% had 3, and 4% had 4+ partners), majority were married to at least 1 of the moms.
Men who grew up in “stable” 2-parent married households were less likely to have MPF.
Younger age at first sexual experience associated with MPF.
MPF is more prevalent in Hispanic (17%) and Black (32%) men compared to White (14%).
Incarceration & drug use more prevalent: 61% MPF men have been in jail (vs. 28% single PF), 27% used drugs in last year (vs. 19% single PF)

Front 48

(In)visible Men: Emerging Research on Low-Income, Unmarried, and Minority Fathers (Coley, 2001)


looots of pp notes

Back 48

Role of fathers
Father’s role in modern families: different yet still based on traditional values

How should father involvement be defined?

Methodological and Conceptual Issues

Data from mother-reports underestimates father involvement.

Mother-father relationship influences mother’s report of father’s behaviors.

Visitation, financial support, etc., do not reflect quality of father-child interactions.

Research studies do not capture the importance of fathering in men’s sense of self.

Policy Issues

Impact of PRWORA on fathers – both good and bad.

Inequities in child support: Low-income fathers pay proportionately MORE of their of their incomes, compared to middle- and high-income fathers.

Child support enforcement efforts (garnishing wages and tax refunds, revoking licenses) may lead poor fathers to stop paying or stop working.

Fathers’ Rights – a policy issue?

Front 49

Economic Hardship

Back 49

struggles and problems related to or resulting from having low income

Front 50

Rinancial strain/ economic pressure

Back 50

percieved stress associated with financial worries- not limited to just lower0income individuals

Front 51

Socioeconomic status (SES)

Back 51

multidimentional index of social class (usually home, education, and occupational status, but sudies vary)