Parenting, Family Policy and Children's Well-Being in an Unequal Society

Parenting, Family Policy and Children's Well-Being in an Unequal Society PDF

Author: D. Hartas

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2014-01-30

Total Pages: 248

ISBN-13: 1137319550

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Western societies face many challenges. The growing inequality and the diminishing role of the welfare state and the rapid accumulation of the resources of a finite planet at the top 1% have made the world an inhospitable place to many families. Parents are left alone to deal with the big societal problems and reverse their impact on their children's educational achievement and life chances. The 'average' working family is sliding down the social ladder with a significant impact on children's learning and wellbeing. We now know that parental involvement with children's learning (although important in its own right) is not the primary mechanism through which poverty translates to underachievement and reduced social mobility. Far more relevant to children's learning and emotional wellbeing is their parents' income and educational qualifications. The mantra of 'what parents do matters' is hypocritical considering the strong influence that poverty has on parents and children. We can no longer argue that we live in a classless society, especially as it becomes clear that most governmental reforms are class based and affect poor families disproportionately. In this book, Dimitra Hartas explores parenting and its influence on children's learning and wellbeing while examining the impact of social class amidst policy initiatives to eradicate child poverty in 21st Century Britain.

Changing Families, Changing Food

Changing Families, Changing Food PDF

Author: Dimitra Hartas

Publisher:

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 212

ISBN-13: 9780230517486

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This book examines parenting in an unequal society and questions whether it is a key mechanism through which poverty translates into underachievement and reduced life chances in children.

The Triple Bind of Single-Parent Families

The Triple Bind of Single-Parent Families PDF

Author: Nieuwenhuis, Rense

Publisher: Policy Press

Published: 2018-03-07

Total Pages: 504

ISBN-13: 1447333640

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Available Open Access under CC-BY-NC licence. This book presents evidence from over 40 countries that shows how single parents face a triple bind of inadequate resources, employment and policies, which in combination further complicate their lives.

Parenting Matters

Parenting Matters PDF

Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2016-11-21

Total Pages: 525

ISBN-13: 0309388570

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Decades of research have demonstrated that the parent-child dyad and the environment of the familyâ€"which includes all primary caregiversâ€"are at the foundation of children's well- being and healthy development. From birth, children are learning and rely on parents and the other caregivers in their lives to protect and care for them. The impact of parents may never be greater than during the earliest years of life, when a child's brain is rapidly developing and when nearly all of her or his experiences are created and shaped by parents and the family environment. Parents help children build and refine their knowledge and skills, charting a trajectory for their health and well-being during childhood and beyond. The experience of parenting also impacts parents themselves. For instance, parenting can enrich and give focus to parents' lives; generate stress or calm; and create any number of emotions, including feelings of happiness, sadness, fulfillment, and anger. Parenting of young children today takes place in the context of significant ongoing developments. These include: a rapidly growing body of science on early childhood, increases in funding for programs and services for families, changing demographics of the U.S. population, and greater diversity of family structure. Additionally, parenting is increasingly being shaped by technology and increased access to information about parenting. Parenting Matters identifies parenting knowledge, attitudes, and practices associated with positive developmental outcomes in children ages 0-8; universal/preventive and targeted strategies used in a variety of settings that have been effective with parents of young children and that support the identified knowledge, attitudes, and practices; and barriers to and facilitators for parents' use of practices that lead to healthy child outcomes as well as their participation in effective programs and services. This report makes recommendations directed at an array of stakeholders, for promoting the wide-scale adoption of effective programs and services for parents and on areas that warrant further research to inform policy and practice. It is meant to serve as a roadmap for the future of parenting policy, research, and practice in the United States.

Social Policy for Children and Families

Social Policy for Children and Families PDF

Author: William J. Hall

Publisher: SAGE Publications

Published: 2021-08-04

Total Pages: 543

ISBN-13: 1544371454

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Written in a conversational and applied style, Social Policy for Children and Families is an award-winning book that incorporates cutting-edge research across policy sectors in the human services. New editors William James Hall III and Paul J. Lanier, in collaboration with Jeffrey M. Jenson and Mark W. Fraser, have carefully crafted this 4th edition to include balanced coverage across areas of poverty, child welfare, education, public health, developmental challenges, substance use, immigration, juvenile justice, and gun violence. This book is an ideal core text for graduate and upper level undergraduate courses and a vital resource for elected officials, policy makers, and others interested in the evolution of policies aimed at preventing problem behaviors and supporting children and families.

A Roadmap to Reducing Child Poverty

A Roadmap to Reducing Child Poverty PDF

Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2019-09-16

Total Pages: 619

ISBN-13: 0309483980

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The strengths and abilities children develop from infancy through adolescence are crucial for their physical, emotional, and cognitive growth, which in turn help them to achieve success in school and to become responsible, economically self-sufficient, and healthy adults. Capable, responsible, and healthy adults are clearly the foundation of a well-functioning and prosperous society, yet America's future is not as secure as it could be because millions of American children live in families with incomes below the poverty line. A wealth of evidence suggests that a lack of adequate economic resources for families with children compromises these children's ability to grow and achieve adult success, hurting them and the broader society. A Roadmap to Reducing Child Poverty reviews the research on linkages between child poverty and child well-being, and analyzes the poverty-reducing effects of major assistance programs directed at children and families. This report also provides policy and program recommendations for reducing the number of children living in poverty in the United States by half within 10 years.

Love, Money, and Parenting

Love, Money, and Parenting PDF

Author: Matthias Doepke

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2020-11-03

Total Pages: 382

ISBN-13: 0691210160

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Doepke and Zilibotti investigate how economic forces shape how parents raise their children. They show that in countries with increasing economic inequality, such as the United States, parents push harder to ensure their children have a path to security and success. Economics has transformed the hands-off parenting of the 1960s and '70s into a frantic, overscheduled activity. Growing inequality has also resulted in an increasing 'parenting gap' between richer and poorer families, raising the disturbing prospect of diminished social mobility and fewer opportunities for children from disadvantaged backgrounds. The authors discuss how investments in early childhood development and the design of education systems factor into the parenting equation, and how economics can help shape policies that will contribute to the ideal of equal opportunity for all. --From publisher description.

Parenting in Privilege or Peril

Parenting in Privilege or Peril PDF

Author: Pamela R. Bennett

Publisher: Teachers College Press

Published: 2021

Total Pages: 359

ISBN-13: 0807779903

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Is the American dream that exists for the middle class equally available to the working class? Using extensive interviews with parents and a variety of data sources, this book examines how social contexts and culture affect parenting decisions. By analyzing class differences in neighborhoods, schools, and networks, as well as their relationship to mobility-related parenting practices, the authors demonstrate that cultural differences are no match for economic inequalities. They show how middle-class parents have access to social contexts characterized by security, which gives rise to what the authors call “strategic parenting”—a set of practices that allow adolescents to develop the qualities and skills they will use to go off to college and, subsequently, achieve the American dream. Conversely, the contexts of working-class parents are characterized by precarity, giving rise to “defensive parenting”—an almost frantic use of harm-mitigating interventions to protect adolescents from threats to both their well-being and prospects for mobility. This important book calls for a shift in public policy away from trying to change working-class parents to improving the social contexts in which society asks them to raise the next generation. Book Features: An explanation for social class differences in educationally relevant, mobility-related parenting practices that contrasts with the dominant cultural explanation.Research findings that are informed by a variety of data sources, including interview data, survey data, social network data, census data, and crime statistics.Two new parenting concepts—strategic parenting and defensive parenting—that capture how middle-class and working-class parents pursue social mobility for their children.

Children and Families in Communities

Children and Families in Communities PDF

Author: Jacqueline Barnes

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2006-05-01

Total Pages: 252

ISBN-13: 0470093587

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In the past decade the relationship between communities, children and families has inspired a wealth of research and policy initiatives because of a growing belief that the breakdown of families and communities is a significant factor in social problems, including child abuse and juvenile crime. The latest policy initiatives to tackle social problems have therefore targeted communities as well as high risk families. This title amalgamates the latest research on the relationship between children, families and communities and explores policy and practice implications. Material for practitioners and community development workers is also be included. The book is divided in to three parts: 1) theory 2) the effect of community on children, parents and families 3) interventions and policy implications.