EFFECTS OF PARENTAL LEAVE AND WORK HOURS ON FATHERS’ INVOLVEMENT WITH THEIR BABIES

Using data from the first wave of the Millennium Cohort Study, covering a large birth cohort of children in the UK at age 8 to 12 months, this paper examines the effects of leave-taking and work hours on fathers’ involvement in four specific types of activities: being the main caregiver; changing diapers; feeding the baby; and getting up during the night. We also investigate the effects of policies on fathers’ leave-taking and work hours. We find that taking leave and working shorter hours are related to fathers being more involved with the baby, and that policies affect both these aspects of fathers’ employment behaviour. Thus, we conclude that policies that provide parental leave or shorter work hours could increase fathers’ involvement with their young children.     

Resilience for dropout students with depression in secondary schools in Hong Kong: parental attachment,hope and community integration

ABSTRACT

The objective of this qualitative research is to better understand school dropout students with depression in Hong Kong and how they overcome their adversities. Three girls and five boys participated in the study. The results showed that the Hong Kong cultural context was affected by school competition and the effect of mental health labelling. Jaspers’ phenomenology was utilised to understand the phenomenon of school dropout and depression. The findings illustrated the importance of secure parental attachment, substitute secure attachment, hope, supportive environment and community integration in helping dropout students with depression to overcome adversities. A resilience model for school dropouts with depression is proposed for improving professional practice in Hong Kong.     

Keep out of the reach of children: parental unemployment and children's accident risks in Sweden 1991–1993

In the early 1990s, unemployment levels increased dramatically in Sweden. Although the effects of unemployment on unemployed individuals are well-documented, research on parental unemployment and children has been neglected. The aim of the present study is to explore the relationship between parental unemployment and children's accident risks in Sweden for the period 1991–1993. Two independent samples are used: the Swedish Level of Living Survey 1991 (original sample 6,733 individuals) and the Swedish Longitudinal Study among Unemployed 1992–1993 (original sample 792). The samples were taken during periods of both low and high unemployment. The results indicate that parental unemployment is associated with increased accident risks among children in 1991, 1992 and 1993. The increased risks do not seem to be due to the effects of adverse selection into unemployment on parental well-being, financial difficulties or alcohol consumption. It is also suggested that low parental well-being is of causal significance within the unemployed group.     

Comparative perspectives on changes to Canada's paid parental leave: Implications for class and gender

In 2001, Canada extended the length of time parents could claim benefits. When combined with maternity benefits, a total of 50 weeks of benefits is available for qualifying parents. This places Canada at the forefront of liberal welfare regimes in benefits for new mothers and parents. However, an examination of the nature and impact of these changes suggests that they further exacerbate gender and class divisions in access to, and take-up of, these benefits. A discussion of major trends in parental leave policies in Europe identifies the types of changes that are most likely to reduce the gender and class inequalities apparent in current policies.     

The Relationship Between Maternal Education and Children's Academic Outcomes: A Theoretical Framework

The importance of maternal education for children's academic outcomes is widely recognized, and yet the multiple potential mechanisms that explain this relationship are underexplored. The authors integrate theories of human, cultural, and social capital with 2 developmental psychology theories—bioecological theory and developmental niche theory—to draw attention to how maternal education may influence children's academic outcomes through a range of parenting mechanisms, some of which have been largely neglected in research. This framework provides a more complete picture of how maternal education shapes proximal and distal influences on children's academic outcomes and the ways in which these mechanisms interact and reinforce one another across time and context. The implications of this framework for future family research are then discussed.     

Choosing a school: parental decision-making when special schools are an option

Parental rights to choose a school are widely acknowledged. School choices for parents of children with disability have been discussed in the academic literature; however, the decision-making process itself is largely hidden. It is vital to understand parental decision-making around school choice more deeply, given the high regard with which this is viewed. Six focus groups were held in Queensland, Australia in 2013 to explore parental decision-making. Data were collected from 30 parents with children of different ages, some of whom were eligible for special school enrolment. Most parents felt constrained in choosing a school yet eager to make decisions themselves. Most described the process as rational. Findings suggest that when special school was an option, decision-making felt more restricted and complex. Factors such as difficulty accessing reliable information and pressure from professionals added to the complexity. It was concluded that final school selection did not reliably reflect parental preferences.     

Differential effects of parental control on preschool-age adjustment depending on child effortful control

This study examined whether parental control differentially predicted children's effortful control and adjustment depending on children's levels of executive control and delay ability. Using longitudinal data, the study included 241 preschool-age children and their mothers. Fifty-seven percent of the sample was lower income and included 64% White, 10% Latino/Hispanic, 9% Black, 3% Asian-American, 2% Native or American Indian, and 12% multiple racial/ethnic backgrounds. Interactions between aspects of parental and child control at 3-years-old were tested as predictors of mother-reported child effortful control at 4.5 years and teacher-reported adjustment at 5.5 years. Children's early levels of executive control and delay ability moderated the relations of some forms of parental control with child outcomes, although several hypothesized interactions were nonsignificant. Low parental autonomy respect predicted higher externalizing for children initially high in executive control but predicted lower externalizing for children initially low in executive control. Conversely, high autonomy respect predicted higher impulsivity for children low in delay ability but higher social competence for children high in delay ability. Finally, low maternal negative control predicted higher internalizing for children low in delay ability, whereas it predicted higher internalizing for children high in delay ability. These findings suggest that in some cases the type and degree of parental control should match a child's level of effortful control to support their social, emotional, and behavioral adjustment optimally.     

Longitudinal associations of parental psychological control and friend support with autonomy during early adolescence

Although theories suggest transactional associations between adolescents' autonomy and relationships with parents and friends, few studies have examined these within-person effects. This longitudinal study examined the within-person co-development of adolescents' autonomy and relationships with parents and friends. Adolescents (N = 244 M_age = 11.54, SD = 0.43 at T1; 50% boys) participated in a four-wave study across 2 years in the Netherlands. In random-intercept cross-lagged panel models, within-person results showed that higher levels of autonomy predicted less parental psychological control but not vice versa. However, no lagged-effects between friend support and autonomy were found. This study suggests that adolescents' autonomy steers changes in parental psychological control.     

Parental unemployment and children's educational attainment: How big is the role of aspirations?

Children exposed to parental unemployment have been found to lag behind in school, but research has struggled to pin down the underlying explanation. One hypothesis is that parental unemployment may dampen children's aspirations to do well and go far in school. Yet, few studies on parental unemployment have relied on actual measures of children's aspirations or devised a formal analysis of this mechanism. Using the UK Household Longitudinal Study (Waves 1–12, N = 1067), I investigate the role of educational aspirations in children's General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) attainment. I compare adolescents exposed to parental unemployment before or only after the typical age at which GCSE exams are taken. In adjusted models, children exposed to parental unemployment before their GCSEs are around 6 percentage points less likely to attain any GCSE qualification by age 17. On average, children have high educational aspirations, although intentions to enrol in college or university are relatively lower among children exposed to an early spell of parental unemployment. Nevertheless, a hypothetical intervention setting these aspirations to the same level for all children only accounts for a modest portion of the educational penalty tied to an early spell of parental unemployment. Several sensitivity and robustness tests support this conclusion. This note seeks to stimulate more research on the mechanisms underpinning the intergenerational effects of unemployment. Findings cast doubts on the idea that children's aspirations, the target of broader policy discourse and interventions, are a crucial part of the equation.     

Association between adolescents' socioeconomic status and working memory updating functioning: Role of parental educational involvement

Family socioeconomic status (SES) is positively associated with executive functioning. This study tested whether parental educational involvement mediates this association. Two hundred and sixty, 12-15-year-old adolescents completed working memory updating (WMU) and general intelligence tasks, and questionnaires on SES and parental educational involvement. SES and WMU ability were positively associated; there was no difference between the fathers and mothers for three types of educational involvement. The mothers’ behavioural involvement positively mediated the SES-WM updating association, whereas a negative mediation was observed for the mothers’ intellectual involvement. The fathers’ educational involvement did not play a significant mediating role. These results might inform interventions targeting educational involvement for enhancing the cognitive development of children from low SES families.