Who Helps Single Mothers in Nairobi? The Role of Kin Support

Single mothers often turn to their extended kin for financial assistance and to help with child care. Such support may be especially important in areas of high poverty and poor environmental conditions. Using novel kinship data, this article assesses the extent of support given by more than 3,000 relatives to 462 single mothers living in a slum area of Nairobi, Kenya. Contrary to stereotypes about families in sub‐Saharan Africa, the active kin network of single mothers is relatively small, and nearly a fifth of mothers do not receive any financial or child‐care assistance. Different types of kin offer different kinds of support according to culturally proscribed roles. However, support also depends heavily on kin's employment status, geographic proximity, and age. These findings offer a nuanced picture of how single women living in slum areas draw on their kin network to cope with their daily demands as mothers.     

Ties That Bind? Comparing Kin Support Availability for Mothers of Mixed‐Race and Monoracial Infants

Although interracial partnerships are increasingly common, social distance between racial groups may impact participants' ties with extended kin. One persistent yet untested premise is that mothers with a biracial baby are “cut off” from extended family members. Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N = 4,147), we explore perceptions of kin support availability for mothers of infants and whether perceptions differ if the father is a different race or ethnicity than the mother. We uncover stark differences in the likelihood of perceiving support as unavailable between mothers in same‐race and interracial parenting unions. Multivariate logistic regressions reveal that interracial partnering is positively associated with mothers perceiving support as unavailable, but this pattern is moderated by race and ethnicity of the mother, with the greatest difference emerging for White mothers. Ultimately, interracial partnering and childbearing may produce social isolation from kin, reflecting the enduring White‐non‐White divide.     

Consequences of Teen Parents' Child‐Care Arrangements for Mothers and Children

Using the nationally representative Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort (2001–2006; N ?7,900), the authors examined child‐care arrangements among teen parents from birth through prekindergarten. Four latent classes of child care arrangements at 9, 24, and 52 months emerged: (a) “parental care,” (b) “center care,” (c) “paid home‐based care,” and (d) “free kin‐based care.” Disadvantaged teen‐parent families were overrepresented in the “parental care” class, which was negatively associated with children's preschool reading, math, and behavior scores and mothers' socioeconomic and fertility outcomes compared with some nonparental care classes. Nonparental care did not predict any negative maternal or child outcomes, and different care arrangements had different benefits for mothers and children. Time spent in nonparental care and improved maternal outcomes contributed to children's increased scores across domains. Child‐care classes predicted maternal outcomes similarly in teen‐parent and nonteen‐parent families, but the “parental care” class predicted some disproportionately negative child outcomes for teen‐parent families.     

Reexamining the Association of Maternal Age and Marital Status at First Birth With Youth Educational Attainment

We reexamined the association of maternal age and marital status at birth with youth high school completion using data from the Children and Young Adult sample of the 1979 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth and giving attention to multiple age categories and race and ethnic variations. Youth born to older teen mothers were no more likely to graduate from high school than those born to the youngest teen mothers. Although delaying childbirth to young adulthood was associated with greater odds of children's high school completion when compared with the earliest teen births, those born to young adult mothers were disadvantaged when compared with those born to mothers aged 25 years or older. Being born to an unmarried mother was associated with lower odds of high school completion. We found no evidence that maternal age at birth more strongly predicted high school graduation for White compared with Latino and Black youth.     

Brazilian housemaids and COVID‐19: How can they isolate if domestic work stems from racism?

This article proposes a debate about the situation of Brazilian housemaids in the context of the COVID‐19 pandemic to expand the discussion on this scenario and link it structurally to racism and the history of colonialism, from the perspective of its successful project of establishing racial inequalities and relegating Black women to the most vulnerable conditions. As staying at home is not a choice for these women, the suppression of the right to life reflects how the necropolitics against Black Brazilians operates. In Brazil, the naturalization of this form of violence finds great support in a mixture of affection and inequality relationships, in a context in which domestic workers, specifically housemaids, figure as the memory of Black mothers, that is, the enslaved women of the colonial period, coming from the African diaspora. This memory is associated with the whiteness naturalization of the subordinate status of Black women.     

Teen Childbearing and Depression: Do Pregnancy Attitudes Matter?

The relationship between teen childbearing and depression has been extensively studied; however, little is known about how young women's own attitudes toward becoming pregnant shape this association. This study used data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health to investigate whether the relationship between teen childbearing and adult depression is moderated by adolescent attitudes toward becoming pregnant. The results showed that although, on average, women who had first births between ages 16 and 19 experienced no more depressive symptoms in adulthood than women who had first births at age 20 or older, the relationship between teen childbearing and adult depression varied significantly based on adolescent pregnancy attitudes. When they had negative adolescent attitudes toward getting pregnant, teen mothers had similar levels of depression as adult mothers, but when they had positive adolescent pregnancy attitudes, teen mothers actually had fewer depressive symptoms than women with adult first births.     

Implications of Childhood Externalizing Problems for Young Adults

This study uses data from a national sample of married individuals and their offspring to explore the relationships between childhood externalizing problems and adult psychological well‐being, social support, and intimate relationship quality. The results indicate that childhood problems predict lower levels of adult psychological well‐being, kin support, and relationship quality. The relationship between childhood problems and adult intimate relationship quality, and that between childhood problems and later parent‐child relationship quality, is explained after accounting for the reciprocal influences of childhood problems and the quality of teen parent‐child relations. This finding suggests that the best way for parents to prevent and offset their offspring's difficulties is to maintain quality relationships with them.     

Incongruent Teen Pregnancy Attitudes,Coparenting Conflict,and Support Among Mexican‐Origin Adolescent Mothers

The current longitudinal study examined whether differences between Mexican‐origin adolescent mothers and their mother figures (N = 204 dyads) in attitudes on the status attained through teen pregnancy were associated with conflict in their coparenting relationship and whether coparenting conflict was associated with adolescent mothers' perceptions of social support. Findings revealed that when adolescents held more positive attitudes than their mother figures about the status gained through teen pregnancy, they tended to report greater coparenting conflict with their mother figures. Furthermore, greater coparenting conflict was significantly associated with decreases in adolescents' perceptions of social support (i.e., emotional, instrumental, companion support) 1 year later. Findings underscore the importance of incongruent attitudes and the quality of coparenting relationships between adolescent mothers and their mother figures in relation to support processes. Findings are discussed with respect to understanding Mexican‐origin adolescent mothers' social support in the context of family subsystem attitudes and interactions.     

Adolescent mothers: Racial differences in childrearing support

This article presents a study of racial differences in the types of support that families and babies' fathers give to teenage mothers. The sample is 203 inner city adolescent mothers were using public health clinics in three midwest cities. Black mothers were younger than white mothers and were less likely to live with a male partner. Although only one black father lived with his baby, while 2/3 of the white fathers lived with their babies, similar percentages of both black and white fathers provided support in a variety of different areas of childcare and financial aid. Thus, there was substantial childcare involvement from absent black fathers. The families of black mothers provided a wider variety of child care and financial support. Multivariate analyses demonstrate that the greater number of different types of support for black mothers from family of origin persisted despite differences in the teen mother's age, the age of the baby, and the family's socio-economic status. Implications for social work interventions are discussed.Preparation of this document was aided by Office of Adolescent Pregnancy Programs, Grant #APR 00930-01-0. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Third Biennial Conference of the Society for Research on Adolescence, Atlanta, GA, March, 1990.     

'I don't know what I'd do without our Mam' motherhood, identity and support networks

This paper explores the role and importance of kinship within the lives of 14 working class women as they seek to make sense of motherhood and their own self‐identity as a young mother. Within late modernity, numerous discourses suggest that kin networks and the role and importance of kinship are in decline as ‘the family’ changes and adapts. Indeed, the idea of extended family support and networking is frequently viewed as a historically cozy image rather than an everyday reality as we enter the twenty‐first century. However, this paper demonstrates that the situation is far from straightforward. The young mothers’ discourses and everyday experiences remain firmly grounded in relations of class, gender and the locality within which they live. Hence, although many of the young women are increasingly individualised, self‐reflexive actors seeking to make sense of intimate relations and kinship in an ontologically insecure world, kin networks, especially female kinship continue to play a pivotal role in their lives—practically, socially and emotionally. Indeed, female kinship is closely interwoven with their self‐identity as a caring and capable mother.     

More Kin,Less Support: Multipartnered Fertility and Perceived Support Among Mothers

Recent research has documented the high prevalence of having children with more than 1 partner, termed multipartnered fertility. Because childbearing is an important mechanism for building kin networks, we theorize that multipartnered fertility will influence the availability of social support for mothers. Analyzing 3 waves of data from the Fragile Families study (N = 12,259), we find that multipartnered fertility is negatively associated with the availability of financial, housing, and child‐care support. Our longitudinal evidence suggests a bidirectional relationship in which multipartnered fertility reduces the availability of support, and the availability of support inhibits multipartnered fertility. We conclude that smaller and denser kin networks seem to be superior to broader, but weaker kin ties in terms of perceived instrumental support.     

Subsequent Fertility Among Teen Mothers: Longitudinal Analyses of Recent National Data

A sample of high school age mothers was followed from 1988 to 1994 in order to examine factors associated with having a second teen birth or a closely spaced second birth. The study incorporates a life‐course perspective. Factors associated with postponing a subsequent birth include characteristics measured prior to the first birth, at the time of the first birth, and after the first birth. Analyses suggest that a combination of young teen mothers staying in school, living at home with their parents, and (among older teen mothers) being engaged in educational or work activities might help reduce the risk of a second untimely birth. Those teenage mothers who were able to complete their high school diploma, or even their GED, were less likely to have a second teen birth.     

“The love that I was missing”: Exploring the lived experience of motherhood among teen mothers in foster care

The present study employed Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) to explore the experiences and meaning of motherhood among teen mothers in foster care. Through a series of 18 in-depth, semi-structured interviews exploring experiences of both being mothered and mothering, the six young women in this study shared their stories of living the reality of becoming mothers under extremely challenging circumstances and doing their best to thrive. Themes of darkness and despair, (e.g., substance abuse, poverty, and child maltreatment) glimpses of light in the darkness (e.g., relationships with their partner's family), and new beginnings (e.g., identity as mother) emerged as characteristic of their experience. Implications for practice, policy, and research in the areas of teen pregnancy prevention and support for family strengthening are offered.     

Marriage matters for Black middle-class women: A review of Black American marriages,work, and family life

It is well documented that Black women tend to experience lower marriage participation than non-Black women because of the marriage squeeze, including an unequal sex-ratio within age cohorts, and the increase in economic precarity among Black men. The experience of the marriage squeeze impacts poor, and college educated Black women, but this is only one viewpoint. Drawing on work and family research at the intersection of racial identity, gender, and class, I argue that marriage provides Black middle-class women access to privileges and resources like safety and kin networks within a U.S. nation-state constrained by racism and sexism. By relying on marriage, Black middle-class women can realize personal and familial desires, as well as encounter patriarchal oppression. I end this review with a discussion on future directions for research in this area, and a discussion on imagined futures for Black women that incorporates self-love and self-actualization.     

Affects of unease: mother–infant separation among professional Indonesian women working in Singapore

The extent of systemic forms of mother–child separation has received insufficient attention in research on migrant families. In this article, I explore the little‐studied phenomenon of mother–infant separation among professional women migrants. I draw from in‐depth interviews with Indonesian professional women working in Singapore who have lived apart from their infant children to pursue work and education. Narratives of separation illustrate a complex transnational network of care built around an availability of support offered by spouses or extended kin. Women experience unease about separation, which emerges in how they talk about their absent infants. Mothers articulate ambivalence about the potential cost of their decisions, positing infants as able to pass judgement on them, with potential rejection and disengagement causing them potent concerns. The unease of these mothers moderates claims that transnational separation is readily managed and highlights the ambiguity embedded in an increasingly common form of transnational mother–child separation.     

Black feminist theory in maternal health research: A review of concepts and future directions

Black maternal health and well-being has become a necessary focal point for health researchers due to higher rates of maternal mortality and morbidity for Black women. However, what is often absent from this scholarship within medical sociology is Black Feminist Theory as a framework for understanding Black women's health and well-being. Drawing on Black feminist and maternal health scholarship, I argue that integrating Black feminist approaches in maternal health research expands our understandings of what processes and mechanisms are impacting the health and well-being of Black mothers, while also highlighting the importance of maternal health research that solely centers Black women. Specifically, I focus on three concepts of Black Feminist Theory as it relates to Black maternal health research: (1) examining Black women's standpoint as credible, (2) acknowledging the historical context of multiple systems of oppression against Black women, and (3) incorporating a perspective that acknowledges both disadvantages, as well as empowerment, in the lives of Black women. I end this review with a discussion of future directions for sociological research in maternal health, including the importance of acknowledging how Black mothers are both impacted by, and resisting, social structures that may add nuance to our current understandings of Black maternal health and well-being.     

What Do Urban Black Mothers Tell Their Adolescents About Alcohol and Other Drugs?

This study utilized qualitative content analysis to examine messages conveyed about alcohol and other drugs by urban Black mothers (N = 130) with a personal, familial, or personal and familial history of problematic substance use to younger and older adolescents (M = 15.2 years). Data from a two‐cohort longitudinal sample revealed considerable similarity in themes across the younger and older cohorts. Results suggest Black mothers offer more messages of information and advice to younger adolescents, while communicating directives related to use to older adolescents.     

The association between social support networks and maternal employment: a comparison of western German,eastern German,and migrant mothers of preschool-aged children

A lack of adequate childcare can delay mothers’ return to the labor market after childbirth. This paper examines whether social support with childcare by kin and friends facilitates maternal employment in the first 72 months after childbirth. Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) 1993–2009, a comparison of natives (n?=?1409) and migrants (n?=?411) in corporative-conservative western Germany with mothers in former socialist eastern Germany (n?=?528) shows that kinship support is positively associated with maternal employment when public childcare is limited. Western German and migrant mothers return to work sooner if they are surrounded by kin. But kin do not provide support for maternal employment in eastern Germany, where public childcare is more easily accessible and continuous female employment is a prevalent social norm. Friendship networks, by contrast, are most valuable for maternal employment if they complement public childcare.     

Only one pair of hands: Ways that single mothers stretch work and family resources

Based on in-depth interviews with 50 women in the eastern part of Massachusetts in the United States between the ages of 22 and 50 who have chosen to be single mothers, this article presents a typology demonstrating the factors leading to, and consequences of, differing combinations of economic and social support for childrearing marshaled by the mothers. Ensuring middle class lives for their children is a central goal for the mothers. This goal determines how and why the mothers construct specific strategies to complement their ‘one pair of hands’ based on resources they develop: some have both financial resources and a deep network of support (‘good jobs/good friends’), others have either one or the other (‘tapping the networks’ and ‘looking to the market’), and a fourth group have neither (‘going it alone’). Despite variation in resources all the women seek ways to tip the balance of work and family in favor of mother-time, and in the process of developing individual solutions activate broad kin and community networks.     

College Students' Positivity Toward Teen Mothers

Although teen pregnancy and parenthood are more visible in society than in the past, teen mothers are often stereotyped and stigmatized. The study examined positivity toward teen mothers among college students (N = 316) at a midwestern university. Although students responded positively to some items regarding teen mothers, other statements showed endorsements of stereotypes. Positivity toward teen mothers was positively related to empathy and classification (freshman, sophomore, etc.). Those who did not report having a teen mother in their family had higher levels of positivity than those who reported having a teen mother in their family. Research should examine perceptions of teen mothers among social workers and interventionists as a moderator of intervention effectiveness.