Troubled by financial and children troubles: psychological self-

concepts of low-income parents in Singapore

Social Work Social Development 2012

10 July 2012

Irene Y.H. Ngswknyhi@nus.edu.sg

Acknowledgements

Ministry of Community Development Youth and Sports (MCYS)

Community Development Councils

Research team:Ho Kong Weng, Division of Economics, NTUAlex Lee, Department of Social Work, NUSNgiam Tee Liang, Department of Social Work, NUSNesam Tharmalingam, Department of Social Work,

NUS

Today’s Presentation

1. Poverty in Singapore Socioeconomic and policy context

2. Theory: effects on and of parents’ self-concepts

Self-efficacy Aggravation in parenting

3. Sample & methodology4. Findings5. Implications for working with low-income

parents

Poverty in Singapore

Wage stagnation despite high economic growth

Widening inequality

=> Bottom earners of increasing concern

Policy Context

Time limited

economic focused

assistance

Welfare-to-work

programs

Non-welfare-to-

work programs

Limited effectiveness for many/majority of recipientsÞ Why? Þ Poor families seldom struggle with ONLY financial

woes

Model of self-concepts of low-income parents

6

Financial hardship

Diminished self-

concept

Children problems

Increased difficult in

sustaining work & meeting

welfare requirements

Sample: 754 parents with at least one

child below 21 years oldat the start of Work Support

Mar 2010-Jul 2011

7

Work Support

Government financial assistance programme to help recipients find employment and achieve financial independence through interim financial support and other assistance

Method: Linear probability regression

Interaction Parents’

(a) self-efficacy & (b) parenting aggravation

Individual

• Family earnings

• Education• Social

support

Children

• Academic performance

• Behaviour• Health and

mental health

• Age

Demographic

• Age• Sex• Race/

ethnicity• Marital

status• No. of

children

Self-concept 1: Self-efficacy / self-mastery

“The extent to which people see themselves as being in control of the forces that importantly affect their lives” (Pearlin et al. 1980, Bandura 1982)

Adverse life event

Decrease self-

efficacy

Stress and

functioning

Pearlin Self-efficacy

No way I can solve some of my problems Little control over things Often feel helpless Little I can do to change important things

11

Mean SD Range a

2.51 .73 1-4 .81

1 2 3 4Completel

y disagree

Completely agree

Self-concept 2: Parenting aggravation

“Parenting stress that might result from changes in employment, income and other factors” (Panel Study of Income Dynamics 2010)Adapted from Parenting Stress Index

(Abidin, 1990)Parenting

stress index

Aggrava-tion in

parenting

Aggravation in parenting

Being a parent is harder than I thought I feel trapped by my responsibility as a

parent I find that taking care of my child(ren) is

more work than pleasure I often feel tired, worn out, or exhausted

from raising a family

14

Mean SD Range a

2.73 1.32 1-5 .81

1 2 3 4 5Not at all

trueCompletely

true

Individual’s characteristics

15

M SD Range %

Monthly family earnings $1,006 $623 $0-4,200

Highest education Primary & below Some secondary ‘N’ or ‘O’ Level ‘A’ level or polytechnic Bachelor degree or above

42%25%12%9%2%

Lubben Social Network Scale

4.84 5.28 0-25

how many family members or relatives: • they heard from at least

once a month, • felt at ease to talk about

private matters, and • could call on for help. Similarly for friends or neighboursScale: 0 – 5 (nine or more)

Children’s characteristicsChildren issues %

Has child with poor grades 33%

Has child with health limitations 21%

Has child with difficult behaviour 29%

M SD Range

Age of oldest child who is below 21

13 5 0-20

Demographic characteristics

17

M SD Range

%

Age of respondent 40 9 20-78

% male 39%

Number of children 3 1.43 1-11

% not married 21%

Results: No interactionsChildren’s characteristics

Lg(parenting)

Lg(mastery)

Has a child with poor grades 

.07(.043)

.026(.026)

Has a child with health Limitations

.13(.047)**

.033(.028)

Has a child with difficult Behaviour

.39(.044)**

.073(.026)**

Lg(family earnings) 

.003(.006)

-.006(.004)Standard errors in parentheses. * significant at 5%; ** significant at 1%

Results: With interactionsChildren’s

characteristicsLg(parenti

ng)Lg(maste

ry)Has a child with poor grades Grades X Earnings

.19(.096)

-.029(.058)

-.019(.014)

.01(.009)

Has a child with health limitation

Health X Earnings

-.006(.126)

.059(.076)

.021(.019)

-.005(.011)

Has a child with difficult behaviour

Behaviour X Earnings

.65(.096)**

.23(.058)**

-.043(.015)**

-.027(.009)**

Standard errors in parentheses. * significant at 5%; ** significant at 1%

Results: Another significant factor

Individual characteristics

Lg(parenting)

Lg(mastery)

Lubben social support scale

 

.005(.004)

-.014(.002)**

N 754 754R2 .17 .10Standard errors in parentheses. * significant at 5%; ** significant at 1%

Model without interactions shown, but results similar in model with interactions.

Main findings

Children’s health aggravated parenting. Children’s difficult behaviour worsened

parenting stress AND parents’ self-efficacy. Family earnings did not relate to self-

concepts. However, lower family earnings amplified the effects of children’s difficult

behaviour on parents’ stress and self-efficacy.

Social support from friends and family improved self-efficacy.

Limitations

Cross-sectional => can’t conclude causality

Implications

limited effectiveness if recipients’ psychosocial barriers to financial independence not addressed

Case-management beyond financial monitoring

Þ Case loads & case-management trainingÞ Integration of services Supportive manner of case officer important Targeted assessment and intervention

For families with difficult children and on improving social support.

* Evaluation of these suggestions

Thank you