Does joint legal custody increase child support for nonmarital children?

Nonmarital children account for two fifths of births in the US, and close to two thirds of these children do not live with their fathers by age five. Although nonmarital children primarily live with their mothers, joint legal custody has emerged as an option for their parents. Parents with joint legal custody are expected to make major decisions for their child together, regardless of their prior marital status. This study investigates whether joint legal custody increases child support payments in the first year of a child support order among fathers of nonmarital children who live with their mothers, using a unique sample of court records in 2000–2009 in Wisconsin. It finds consistent and statistically significant positive associations across different methods; joint legal custody is associated with higher child support payments by about $170 a year and a higher compliance ratio by 5 percentage points. Paying child support is only one way nonresident parents can contribute to their children. Therefore, more studies are needed to understand whether and how joint legal custody affects other aspects of parenting and conditions under which it should be encouraged.     

Intra-household arrangements: How important are they in terms of male-female subjective well-being?

This paper aims to analyze the impact of different intra-household arrangements, defined in terms of income pooling and decision-making responsibilities, on individual subjective well-being in a number of European countries. Using the EU-SILC 2010 module on intra-household sharing of resources and self-assessed health, as a dimension of subjective well-being, we find that the relationship between self-reported health and family arrangements differs by gender and area of decision. The results provide interesting insights on the potential determinants of individual self-assessed health that go beyond the standard ones. In particular, we identify higher levels of males’ and females’ self-assessed health connected to them controlling or sharing financial decisions. Moreover, males’ self-assessed health is positively linked to female making domestic decisions, and negatively if decisions are of financial type; whereas females’ self-assessed health is positively associated to them taking domestic decisions only in households where incomes are not fully pooled. Thus, our findings might be of help for politicians to design the most effective policies intended to improve individual standards of living and to reduce social inequalities.     

Children's subjective well-being in relation to gender — What can we learn from dissatisfied children?

Gender differences in subjective well-being (SWB) are a common finding in studies of children, but the nature, causes and effects of these differences remain unclear. This article draws on data from the Children's Worlds study, an international survey of child well-being across countries, to examine the structure of SWB drawing on different life domains, and comparing the effects of these domains on SWB for boys and girls. Structural equation modelling is used to examine differences between 12 year old boys and girls who reported low subjective well-being (bottom 25% of the sample). Findings reveal that the structure of SWB is comparable across the genders; girls' SWB was lower than boys'; and different domains of SWB vary in their importance for boys and girls. Specifically, girls' SWB appears to be more driven by relational factors, whilst boys' SWB is more driven by perceived academic achievement.     

What accounts for the variations in children's subjective well-being across nations?: A decomposition method study

Studies have shown that there are important differences in children's subjective well-being across nations. However, it has been difficult to explain why this level is lower or higher in certain countries. Using data from the Children's Worlds project, this study examines how much of the country-level children's subjective well-being can be explained by various social and cultural contextual factors. More specifically, we decompose the levels of children's overall subjective well-being to seven factors that are known to be important for children's well-being including leisure, environment, learning, money, relationship, freedom to choose, and self. After the decomposition, the unexplained part (intercept and residual) for each country is considered to represent cultural reporting bias. We found that cultural reporting bias cannot explain all of the variances in children's subjective well-being across nations. Rather, we found that the freedom to choose and self are the two most important factors that explain vast share of the variances in the overall levels of children's subjective well-being across nations. The paper also provides social policy implications of the study results.     

Does family support ensure the protection of children? Messages from child protection research

The history of child protection is, in many ways, a catalogue of changes arising from the political/professional interface tensions relating to a highly contentious area of public and professional policy. The latest contribution to this process is the Department of Health's 1995 publication Child Protection: Messages from Research. The overview of the studies recommends that there be a shift in resources and attitudes from an investigative approach to a family support perspective. Many local authorities have subsequently produced policies which will lead to referrals being recorded as ‘children in need’ rather than child protection. The ramifications of this change in approach are examined from the dual perspectives of policy and practice. The article suggests that while much of the change in emphasis is to be welcomed, the needs of the most severely abused children may be compromised by the new orthodoxy, as it is not based on the reality of the many problems encountered by children and professionals in child protection work. It is argued that a focus on practice issues needs to permeate all such documents. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Internships for women in higher education administration: springboards for success?

Administrative positions within higher education have been very homogeneous, reflecting an institutional culture in which males prevail. In an attempt to encourage women to consider alternatives in administrative positions, internship programs were developed to provide women with opportunities and a mechanism for career advancement. The purpose of this case study was to examine what women did as a result of participating in such an administrative internship program over a ten year time period at a comprehensive university. Interview data yielded consistent results that support existing literature about women in higher education. Trends were identified and recommendations suggested for encouraging more diversity within administrative positions in higher educational institutions. The findings of this study confirm the need for mentoring relationships for women in administrative positions.     

Improvements in children’s health: Does inequality matter?

The literature on the contributions to poverty reduction of average improvements in living standards vs. distributional changes uses only one measure of well-being – income or expenditure. Given that poverty is defined by deprivation over different dimensions, we explore the role of average improvements and distributional changes in children’s health and nutrition using the height of young children as our measure of well-being. Similar to the income literature, we find that shifts in the mean level of heights, not changes in distribution, account for most improvements in heights. Unlike the literature on income inequality, however, there is a positive association between improvements in average heights and reduced dispersion of those heights.     

Who is advocating for children under six? Uncovering unmet needs in child advocacy centers

Evidence suggests that children under the age of 6 years are affected by trauma, yet there are few studies available to determine how well their needs are addressed in the mental health system. Child Advocacy Centers (CACs) offer a promising avenue for expanding the system of care for very young children exposed to sexual and/or physical abuse. This study used a mixed-methods approach to examine the type and extent of CAC services for very young children in one state. Quantitative results revealed that the youngest children were less likely to be referred for counseling and less likely to already be engaged in counseling when an investigation is initiated. Qualitative results from interviews with CAC advocates suggest that advocates have variable perceptions regarding the effects of trauma on young children, and they do not consistently receive training in the mental health needs of traumatized children under 6. Our results confirm the need for an expanded system of service delivery for the youngest and most vulnerable child maltreatment victims.     

A systematic review of children’s participation in child protection decision-making: Tokenistic presence or not?

This article examines children's views on and experiences with participation in the child protection system's decision-making process. The systematic review follows the PRISMA statement and includes 12 peer-reviewed articles published in academic journals from 2006 to 2017. Findings suggest that children's contact with their worker was limited or non-existent, which minimised opportunities to express views regarding their situation; child–worker contacts lacked dialogue, information about the process of intervention and trusting relationships, meaning that without a voice, children were not engaged in making decisions. Although data are limited, they suggest little or no dialogue with children by child protection workers. Furthermore, children voiced their experiences of not being informed of or understanding the process or decisions made about their lives.     

National certification for child and youth workers: Does it make a difference?

This article examines the impact of professional certification on worker performance as well as the incremental validity of key facets of the national child and youth care practitioner certification (e.g., education, years of experience, certification exam, and professional portfolio) sponsored by the Association for Child and Youth Care Practice and administered by the Child and Youth Care Certification Board. Findings reveal that certified practitioners receive higher performance ratings from their supervisors than non-certified practitioners. Education, experience level, certification exam result (pass/fail), and successful completion of the application packet including a professional portfolio were all significant predictors of performance (as reported by supervisors). Each component progressively accounts for additional variance in the performance criterion. Certified practitioners are 2.7 times more likely to be high performers than non-certified practitioners after accounting for the effect of race, gender, education, experience and certification exam result.     

From products to publics? The potential of participatory design for research on youth,safety and well-being

This paper considers how ‘participation’ features as a key concept in contemporary approaches to research, policy and interventions to promote young people's experiences of safety and well-being in digital society. In particular, it examines the potential of participatory design (PD) methodology as a way of expressing, surfacing and supporting engagement with youth perspectives in research and design projects. In doing so, we explore how the language, materials and processes of a PD approach can help reconfigure the aims of research beyond the production of ‘products’ towards fostering ‘youth-inclusive publics’. Drawing on the concept of ‘infrastucturing’ and ‘attachments’ [Le Dantec, C. A., and C. DiSalvo. 2013. “Infrastructuring and the Formation of Publics in Participatory Design.” Social Studies of Science 43 (2): 241–264. doi:10.1177/0306312712471581], the paper reflects on an Australian research project to develop online campaigns to promote youth safety and well-being in digital society. From our analysis emerged three commitments of PD with young people that help articulate, make visible and unpack ‘attachments’ to concepts of youth, technology and well-being and provide new opportunities for engagement with youth experience in research and intervention design. We find that these commitments – the embodiment of context; the enactment of creativity and the emergence of connectivity – offer novel insights on youth participation in complex research projects. Moreover, foregrounding these commitments through PD can build shared vocabularies, artefacts and processes of engagement with young people in research projects focused on youth safety and well-being.     

Waiting for Godot? On some of the obstacles for developing counter-forces in higher education

In the name of the imperatives of the knowledge-economy, the European public university has been under attack since the beginning of the 2000s. Everywhere in Europe, budgets have been cut and departments considered as being useless eliminated. Reactions have been weak. How can this be explained? How can one challenge the dominant discourse on higher education? This article explores some of the power dynamics that prevent alternative visions from developing.     

A study of disabled children and child protection in Scotland — A hidden group?

This paper is based on analysis of data collected for a study, commissioned by the Scottish Government, which examined child protection work with disabled children. At a conceptual level, the paper draws on Goffman's frame analysis and on different models of disability. Focus groups were conducted with five Child Protection Committees (40 individuals) and semi-structured interviews with a further 21 practitioners from social work, education, health services, third sector organisations and the police. The findings show that, for various reasons, abuse of disabled children may go undetected. Where it is suspected, effective action does not always follow, for example, where practitioners over-empathise with parents. When child protection work is undertaken, disabled children may remain relatively invisible in terms of participation and professional focus. It is suggested that the ways in which practitioners and managers “frame” disabled children has implications for how abuse is responded to and how well these children are protected. Participants also “framed” disability in different ways, and it is suggested that a social relational model seems particularly applicable. In conclusion, in many respects disabled children experiencing abuse may remain absent from or to some extent hidden within child protection services in Scotland. While some creative work is taking place, considerable changes are required to make child protection services accessible to all disabled children, sensitive to their needs and respectful of their rights.     

Caregiver perceptions of children in their care and motivations for the care work in children's homes in Ghana: Children of God or children of white men?

The perceptions and motivations that workers have in their work and work environment are important determinants of the quality of work they do. For people who work in residential institutions where children who have lost the care of their parents receive care, these perceptions and motivations become a crucial part in determining the quality of services or care the children are given. This study set out to explore the perceptions and motivations of caregivers in the institutional context in Ghana. Adopting a qualitative, phenomenological approach, data were collected from 35 caregivers in two children's homes in Ghana through participant observations, focus group discussions and in-depth interviews. It emerged that caregivers perceived the children in their care first as children of God and then as children of white men and were predominantly motivated by their religious convictions to keep doing ‘the work of God’. Other motivations included personal life situations and economic aspects of the job. Implications for the workers and children in this environment are discussed.     

Does child care availability play a role in maternal employment and children’s development? Evidence from Italy

This paper investigates the effects of public child care availability in Italy in mothers’ working status and children’s scholastic achievements. We use a newly available dataset containing individual standardized test scores of pupils attending the second grade of primary school in 2009–2010 in conjunction with data on public child care availability. Our estimates indicate a positive and significant effects of child care availability on both mothers’ working status and children’s Language test scores. We find that a percentage change in public child care coverage increases mothers’ probability to work by 1.3 percentage points and children’s Language test scores by 0.85 percent of one standard deviation; we do not find any effect on Math test scores. Moreover, the impact of a percentage change in public child care on mothers’ employment and children’s Language test scores is greater in provinces where child care availability is more limited.     

The “Costs” of informal care: an analysis of the impact of elderly care on caregivers’ subjective well-being in Japan

This paper examines the impact of providing informal care to elderly parents on caregivers’ subjective well-being using unique data from the “Preference Parameters Study” of Osaka University, a nationally representative survey conducted in Japan. The estimation results indicate heterogeneous effects: while informal elderly care does not have a significant impact on the happiness level of married caregivers regardless of whether they take care of their own parents or parents-in-law and whether or not they reside with them, it has a negative and significant impact on the happiness level of unmarried caregivers. These findings call for more attention to be paid to unmarried caregivers, who presumably receive less support from family members and tend to be more vulnerable to negative income shocks than their married counterparts.     

Use of evidence-based interventions in child welfare: Do attitudes matter?

Implementation of evidence-based programs in child welfare has progressed slowly, with the majority of services in child welfare settings lacking empirical evidence for effectiveness. In other settings, research has identified providers' attitudes about evidence-based practices (EBPs) as a potential barrier to adoption of EBPs. As little research has focused on the role of attitudes in influencing use after training in an EBP in child welfare, the potential for attitudes to impede implementation efforts in child welfare is unclear. This study addressed this question in a sample of 55 caseworkers and therapists randomly assigned to enhanced support to use an EBP following training or a training-only condition. Information on providers' use of the intervention after training and their attitudes about EBPs were measured for up to five time points. Results indicate that attitudes did not predict providers' use of the EBP, and attitudes did not change overall or in the enhanced condition that provided greater exposure to the intervention. Providers perceived of requirements to use a practice as more influential in their use than their openness to EBPs. However, those who were more open to EBPs were more likely to participate in implementation support after the training, suggesting that openness facilitates participation in activities that support use of a new intervention.     

Does fathers' involvement in services affect mothers' likelihood of reunification with children placed in foster care?

Social science literature shows associations between fathers' involvement with their children and beneficial developmental outcomes of those children. A related but smaller body of research in the child welfare services arena has found measures of father involvement to be positively associated with beneficial child welfare outcomes, including child's reunification with parent after placement in foster care. However, the pathway by which father involvement affects reunification likelihood has not been determined. This study builds on the existing body of literature by testing a theoretical basis for the relationship between father involvement (measured as service use) and mothers' reunification in a model controlling for family structure. I find that fathers' involvement in services improves mothers' likelihood of reunification, independently of family structure. Results suggest that agency efforts to involve fathers in services make sense both when the aim is to prepare the father for possible custody, and when the aim is to reunify the mother.     

Health and safety of students in vocational training in Quebec: a gender issue?

Health and safety issues in a vocational training center were explored in this study. Several sources and methods were used: group interviews with students in traditionally female [F] and male [M] trades, i.e. hairdressing (7 F) and automated systems electromechanics (8 M, 1 F); self-administered questionnaires on injuries sustained at the school; observations of activities in these programs; and analysis of ministerial documents. Findings indicate that the partially divergent ways that OHS is addressed in these programs cannot be explained only by the specific characteristics of the two trades. Some aspects put female students in hairdressing at a disadvantage: status accorded to OHS in the study programs, learning activities, and conditions for learning and managing prevention and injuries. The discussion focuses on a gender-differentiated analysis, the importance of improving the way OHS is addressed in the programs, in particular, those primarily involving female students, and the need to pursue research. In addition, the results from individual interviews with women (5 F) training for non-traditional trades lead to discussion on the interrelated effects of sex-based gender and professional gender.