Irene Y.H. Ng [email protected]
description
Transcript of Irene Y.H. Ng [email protected]
Troubled by financial and children troubles: psychological self-concepts of low-income parents in SingaporeSocial Work Social Development
201210 July 2012
Irene Y.H. [email protected]
AcknowledgementsMinistry 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 Presentation1. Poverty in Singapore
Socioeconomic and policy context2. 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-
conceptChildren 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
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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 indexAggrava-
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-
4,200Highest 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
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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