Social Network Development among Low‐Income Single Mothers: Potential for Bridging,Bonding, and Building

This article explores the potential for community‐based social networks to help low‐income mothers manage responsibilities of work and family. This 3‐year ethnographic study examined the experiences of low‐income single mothers participating in an antipoverty program in Boston, Massachusetts, through 73 in‐depth interviews. The data refute the claim that bonds within the community hinder women in their attempts to move their families out of poverty. The authors observed benefits from social networks that emerged as a result of program participation in the following categories: practical support, emotional support, modeling and mentoring, and expansion of information resources. The authors also uncovered a new kind of social network formed among low‐income women who were actively pursuing a path out of poverty. These hybrid networks, building social networks, form among people who are straddling two worlds and, as such, are uniquely positioned to help one another.     

Pathways to Adaptive Emotion Regulation Among Adolescents from Low‐Income Families

The current study examined pathways to adolescent anger and sadness regulation in low‐income families. The sample included 206 families with adolescents age 10–18 years. Using a multimethod, multi‐informant approach, we assessed neighborhood violence, mutual emotional support, parental emotion coaching, and anger and sadness regulation. The findings indicated that high levels of mutual emotional support and emotion coaching and low levels of neighborhood violence were correlated with adolescent emotion regulation. In addition, the analyses demonstrated multiple pathways to emotion regulation. Specifically, neighborhood violence was directly and indirectly related to anger and sadness regulation. Moreover, mutual emotional support was indirectly related to emotion regulation via emotion coaching. Overall, there was little evidence of adolescent sex and age differences in the model. Implications regarding the socialization of adolescent emotion regulation are discussed.     

Custodial Grandmothers’ Physical,Mental, and Economic Well‐Being: Comparisons of Primary Caregivers from Low‐Income Neighborhoods*

Abstract: To examine the implications of custodial grandparent care, we compared the material hardship, mental health, and physical well‐being of custodial grandmothers (n= 90) and biological mothers (n= 1,462) using data from Welfare, Children, and Families: A Three‐City Study. Custodial grandmothers reported significantly more physical health problems but less psychological distress than mothers. Younger grandmothers and grandmothers who sought out more social support were the most disabled and financially strained. Implications for policy and practice addressing the needs of grandmothers raising grandchildren are discussed.     

What Motivates Participation and Dropout Among Low‐Income Urban Families of Color in a Prevention Intervention?*

Low‐income urban parents of color enrolled in a parent training study were interviewed to understand what motivated their participation and what led 30% of them to subsequently drop out. Most enrolled because they wanted to be better parents. Most dropped out because of time and schedule constraints. Retention was higher when parents' motivations for participation matched program goals. Program location and qualities of the recruiter were cited most often as important; financial compensation was cited least often as important.     

The Resilience and Strengths of Low‐Income Families

This study examines indicators of family strength among a random sample of low‐income households with children. The Family Strength Index assesses strength according to economic, problem‐solving, communication, family cohesion, and social support assets. Variations in family strength are explained according to parental status and level of employment. Logistic regression is used to examine the contribution of assets to family outcomes. Findings indicate that relationship assets such as communication, problem solving, and social support predict positive outcomes for low‐income families.     

Civic Engagement Among Low‐Income and Low‐Wealth Families: In Their Words

Abstract: Using in‐depth interviews, we explored civic engagement that included volunteering through religious organizations, neighboring, involvement in children's activities, and contributing. The sample consisted of 84 low‐income, low‐wealth families. Findings indicate that although people of limited resources may be engaged, they face substantial challenges to active engagement. Data are suggestive of a modified life cycle theory, a resource or “stakeholding” theory, and institutional theories regarding challenges to engagement. In the context of the study's limitations, implications are discussed for measurement, research, and interventions.     

Involvement of Low‐Income Single Caregivers in Child‐Focused Early Intervention Services: Implications for Caregiver‐Child Interaction*

Involving caregivers in their children's services often is assumed to make the delivery of child‐focused services more effective. We examined the relation of caregiver involvement in children's early intervention programs (EIPs) with caregiver‐child interaction. Participants were 99 low‐income single caregivers whose children (≤ 40 months old) were enrolled in EIPs that provided opportunities for caregiver involvement. The results confirmed that caregivers who were more engaged with the programs (as rated by program staff) were more likely to demonstrate more responsiveness in interactions with their children. However, the frequency of participation or number of different types of activities at the EIPs in which they engaged were not significantly related to caregiver‐child interaction. Implications are discussed for enhancing supportive and collaborative relationships between caregivers and providers.     

Complexity of Father Involvement in Low‐Income Mexican American Families*

We identify multiple predictors of five types of father involvement in 167 low‐ to moderate‐income two‐parent Mexican American families with fifth‐grade children. Analyses show that fathers’ egalitarian gender attitudes and mothers’ education are associated with higher levels of father involvement. Fathers are more involved in monitoring and interacting with children when families place more emphasis on family rituals, they are more involved in supervising children when mothers are employed more hours, and they perform more housework when mothers earn more and the family is under economic stress. Counter to “macho” stereotypes, Mexican‐identified men are more likely than more acculturated men to supervise children and engage them in conventionally feminine activities. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.     

Together but Not “Together”: Trajectories of Relationship Suspension for Low‐Income Unmarried Parents*

Abstract: We identified and examined relationship trajectories among low‐income parents, with particular attention to fathers and mothers who never marry but maintain potential for greater commitment. Through analyses of life history interviews with a diverse sample of 71 fathers in the Midwest, we used a life course framework to examine the process of relationship suspension. Findings indicated that partner support was critical in overcoming environmental and family barriers to long‐term relationships. By delinking partnering from parenting, unmarried mothers and fathers found a basis for prolonged interaction, apart from intimacy. Relationships persisted because of daily investments during many years of waiting to formalize relationships. Implications for research on relationship trajectories among low‐income families and for policy and programs are discussed.     

Complexity of Family Life Among the Low‐Income and Working Poor: Introduction to the Special Issue

Like all families, low‐income and working‐poor families need economic stability, safety, good health, and engagement in the larger community. However, the complexity of their lives is greatly impacted by limited economic resources. Three primary themes are explored by the 12 articles in this special issue: competing stressors and tensions, effective parenting, and economic stability and financial decision making. Key findings and program and policy implications identified by each set of authors are discussed. This body of work provides research‐based practice and policy suggestions to guide future efforts in partnering with families to strengthen their families and communities for successful enhancement of child well‐being.     

EITC Participation and Association With Financial Distress Among Rural Low‐Income Families

This study examined Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) participation among rural, low‐income families, by income level, and investigated whether nonparticipation corresponds with increased financial distress. Rates of EITC participation among 314 rural low‐income mothers were lower than national averages, especially among the lowest earners. There was, however, an increase from one year to the next, perhaps because of study involvement. Eligible families that did not participate in the EITC experienced greater income inadequacy and economic loss. Professionals who work with families in rural areas may increase EITC participation through outreach to the lowest earning families by emphasizing the need to file tax returns, discussing the potential size of the benefit, and helping families gain access to free tax preparation services.     

Pathways to Achievement: How Low‐Income Mexican‐Origin Parents Promote Their Adolescents Through School

Using an ecocultural framework, we investigated relations between parental academic socialization (PAS) and adolescent motivation and achievement. Two‐hundred sixteen Mexican‐origin, low‐income sixth graders reported on their motivational beliefs and behaviors and on their parents' academic socialization. Results indicated that parents engaged in high levels of all dimensions of PAS: providing an environment for learning, communicating messages about hard work, and communicating messages about school success. Adolescents' determination to persist on schoolwork and educational expectations each partially mediated relations between parental messages about school success and grades. Achieve for family, the motivation to achieve due to feelings of family indebtedness and honor, partially mediated relations between parental messages about school success and determination. Finally, a moderated mediation analysis confirmed that the indirect effect of parental messages about school success on grades through determination differs as a function of maternal warmth. High maternal warmth was associated with stronger relations between PAS and determination.     

Low‐Income Mothers' Nighttime and Weekend Work: Daily Associations With Child Behavior,Mother‐Child Interactions,and Mood

This study investigated low‐income mothers' daily nighttime and weekend work and family outcomes. Sixty‐one mothers of preschool‐aged children reported daily on work hours, mood, mother‐child interaction, and child behavior for two weeks (N = 724 person‐days). Although nighttime and weekend work are both nonstandard schedules, results showed adverse associations of working nighttime hours on family outcomes—more negative mood and mother‐child interactions; less positive child behavior—but no relationship between weekend work and family outcomes.     

Asthma Management Among Low‐Income Latino and African American Families of Infants and Young Children*

To discover the underlying understandings that organize how low‐income Latino and African American parents of infants and toddlers with severe persistent asthma manage symptoms in their children, 11 families with children 12–48 months old and recently hospitalized with asthma were interviewed over 3–6 months. Interpretive phenomenology was used to analyze parents’ narratives about everyday asthma management practices. Four different family management styles were discovered: determined, discontinuous, flexible, and disrupted. Each arose from parents’ particular understandings of asthma and asthma management. Attention to illness meaning and individually developed management plans would improve the family management of asthma in these high‐risk families.     

Private Safety Net: Childcare Resources from the Perspective of Rural Low‐Income Families*

Phenomenological analysis was used to understand how rural low‐income families accessed and used child‐care resources to meet the needs of their families using data from Wave 1 of the Rural Families Speak Project. In the aftermath of welfare reform, results highlight the continuing need for policy aimed at building stronger supports for families with inadequate access to child care.     

Exploring the Relationship Between Assets and Family Stress Among Low‐Income Families

The “hard times” resulting from the 2008 Great Recession represent an opportunity to re‐examine the theoretical framework for how families use economic resources to manage stress. M. Sherraden's (1991) theory of assets and H. I. McCubbin and J. Patterson's (1983) family adjustment and adaptation response model informed this study of how assets relate to family demands among 839 low‐income families. Structural equation modeling found that assets were directly related to a reduced sense of family demands and that assets were indirectly related to demands via economically stressful events. Findings suggest that social welfare policies that promote assets among low‐income families may positively influence family relations. Future family research would benefit from measuring assets as economic resources and testing how assets affect family functioning.     

Father Involvement in Urban Low‐Income Fathers: Baseline Associations and Changes Resulting From Preventive Intervention

This study investigates father involvement among a sample of ethnically diverse, low‐income men participating in a randomized controlled trial of a 14‐hour relationship education program that teaches skills and principles for healthy relationships. Utilizing data from 137 fathers, we examined contextual, individual, and coparental relationship pretest correlates of father involvement and found the strongest predictors were income, religiosity, ethnicity, and parenting alliance. Pre‐post analyses on a subsample of 112 fathers revealed that workshop participants increased father involvement compared to controls and men whose partner attended workshops alone. Among workshop attendees, increased father involvement was significantly predicted by increased parental alliance. Implications for improving fathering by targeting the couple relationship are discussed.