- Posted by e2 on 03.22.09
- Tags Family Changes, Modern Family
Although the American ideology of the family has a nuclear ideal, research suggests that American families rely upon extended family support to raise children. This study explores how transfers of money, time, and space (i.e. coresidence) from extended family members support children and their immediate families, given the needs and constraints of the family members (children, parents, grandparents) involved.
Analyses in this study use nationally representative data about children and their families from the 1997 Panel Study of Income Dynamics and its accompanying Child Development Supplement.
Consistent with ideas drawn from social exchange theory and the life course perspective, this study finds that the high needs of children and their immediate families are associated with the transfer of resources from extended family members.
The needs of children’s immediate families (low family incomes, young mothers, one or no parents present in the household, caregivers employed part-time, government program participation) are particularly important for such transfers, more so than the needs of the children themselves, or the constraints of coresidential grandparents.
Considering the overall package of support children receive from extended family members, money, time, and coresidence all reflect different responses to need.
Coresidence in a grandparent-headed household is the transfer of support most linked to the high needs of children and their immediate families. Grandparents who share their housing with their grandchildren also face considerable constraints themselves.
Money transfers are likeliest when children and their families have high needs for such support, but, the greatest amounts of money are transferred to children and families who have relatively low needs for resources.
Finally, time transfers reflect considerable variation in extended family and grandparent involvement. While children and families with employment demands and child care needs are more likely to have grandparents and other extended family members serving as caregivers, other children spend time with grandparents and other extended family members, regardless of need. Time transfers may reflect a desire of grandparents and other extended family members to invest in the social capital of a family, and suggest that non-need based factors may be important for transfers of time to non-coresidential children.
- Posted by e2 on 03.14.09
- Tags Family Changes, Modern Family
As unemployment increases and the number of low-income people rises, the number of persons eligible for Medicaid benefits will increase. Most people obtain health insurance through their employer and higher rates of unemployment will reduce the number of insured Virginians, including children.
A report by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that a 1 percent increase in the unemployment rate nationwide would result in 1 million new Medicaid enrollees and a 1.1 million increase in the uninsured population. Enrollment in Medicaid and Family Access to Medical Insurance Security (FAMIS), increased by 4.8 percent between December 2007 and December 2008. Enrollment in FAMIS has risen even faster, increasing by 11.4 percent between 2007 and 2008. It is likely that this downturn will increase the number of uninsured people including children, increase the numbers eligible for Medicaid and FAMIS, and place new demands on both programs.
Reductions in either program will exacerbate the downturn’s effects on struggling families and children and increase even further the number pushed into poverty. Reductions will also mean thousands of additional children without access to adequate health care during the recession and beyond, compromising their health status and future potential.
There is a well-documented relationship between parent unemployment and child abuse — as unemployment worsens, the incidence of abuse rises. While not part of the safety net for families experiencing financial hardship, child protective services departments nevertheless may see considerable recession-related increases in child abuse. These programs will need to maintain staffing levels adequate to intervene as necessary to protect children. At the same time, there will be a heightened need for prevention programs (e.g. home visiting programs) that can provide supports to at-risk families.
- Posted by e2 on 03.12.09
- Tags Family Changes, Modern Family
Nationwide welfare reforms have altered the nature of assistance available to families struggling during economic hard times. Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) is focused on welfare-to-work initiatives designed to move families from poverty to self-sufficiency.
Maintaining such employment-centered aid in a period of economic recession and rising unemployment may prove to be very challenging. Compounding the challenge, many jobs available to TANF participants are low-wage, low-skilled positions — those often cut during a downturn. TANF and the Virginia Initiative for Employment not Welfare Program (VIEW), have reduced the number of individuals receiving public cash assistance by nearly 60 percent since 1995.
This steady decline was interrupted by the relatively mild 2001 recession – caseloads increased by 10 percent before declining to pre-recession levels. Since then, caseloads have remained relatively constant despite steady increases in total population. In 2008, the first year of the recession, TANF caseloads increased by 8 percent.
Based on this early rise in caseloads, and on the percentage increase in TANF cases during the 2001 recession (10 percent), we can expect TANF cases in this recession to increase by more than 10 percent, and for that increase to persist for several years beyond the start of the recovery.
- Posted by e2 on 03.10.09
- Tags Family Changes, Modern Family
During a recessionary period, safety net programs become more necessary, and increases in demand for these services are an early indicator of rising poverty. Public and private assistance agencies have seen significant recession-induced increases in demand.
The magnitude of these increases is a sign of worsening poverty and a warning to policymakers of the potential long-range damage to families, children and economy. If policymakers choose to cut safety net services in efforts to balance the state budget, many more people, and especially children, will be exposed to the effects of prolonged poverty. 
Food stamp caseloads increased sharply in 2008. This is important to note because food stamps are a reliable early indicator of increasing economic distress and poverty. The impact on children is substantial, as 57 percent of households receiving food stamps include children.
Another early indicator of family economic vulnerability is food bank demand. This demand increases of 20 to 30 percent during 2008. These increases have occurred at the same time that donations of surplus food have decreased. Food banks, therefore, have initiated requests for emergency funding to meet rising demands.
