Parents' Work, Depressive Symptoms, Children, and Family Economic Mobility: What Can Ethnography Tell Us?

Abstract

Low-income work, job training, depressive symptoms or depression, and children's school performance. These topics have occupied the attention of scholars and policy makers in recent years, particularly as they pertain to single mothers in the context of welfare reform. Broadening this landscape, findings from longitudinal, multi-city ethnographic research reveal that low-income fathers also experience depression or depressive symptoms that hinder family economic mobility. Further, repeated scores from a communitybased depressive symptoms measure embedded in the ethnographic inquiry show that the timing of parents' training and employment pathways, economic conditions, and policies in firms and children's schools intersect with parents' depressive symptoms or depression to affect mobility. Program and policy supports seem to mediate these intersecting mobility challenges. The company has to worry about your condition . . . The company is liable if anything happens to you. And once you're transferred even if you have a doctor's certificate saying that you can return, the position may be filled. (Steel Mill & Foundry, Second Shift Foreman, Milwaukee) Mr. Blessed expected wage progression more than skill development or promotion in his new position, but he hoped that the new work environment would contribute to family serenity. However, the final months at Steel Mill & Foundry, and working 12-hour shifts at Printing Company, caused his wife and him considerable strain, as both reported: Comments Reprinted with permission from

Fathers' Early Emotion Talk: Associations With Income, Ethnicity, and Family Factors

“…In particular, in the context of limited economic resources, sensitive parenting may foster potentially more desirable behaviors, such as talk about emotions. In addition, low‐income fathers may be more susceptible to depression due in part to resource challenges, such as food insufficiency and unemployment (Iversen & Armstrong, 2007; Wu & Schimmele, 2005). Research also indicates that parental sensitivity and negativity may convey different meanings across cultures, which could lead to variations in other parental behaviors, such as emotion talk (Gibson‐Davis & Gassman‐Pines, 2010; Keels, 2009).…”

Social support in single parents' transition from welfare to work: Analysis of qualitative findings1

“…While previous welfare‐to‐work research has drawn on behavioural (Zabkiewicz, 2010; Zabkiewicz & Schmidt, 2009) or economic (Alfred, 2007; Freud, 2007; Iversen & Armstrong, 2007; Kissane & Krebs, 2007; Pavoni & Violante, 2007; Weigt, 2006) analyses to scrutinise the pros and cons of welfare to work, few studies have examined the social economy of women's welfare‐to‐work transition. The results of this meta‐synthesis suggest that the complex webs of relations that low‐income women rely on for daily survival are paramount to their employment success or failure.…”

Depressive Symptoms and Economic Outcomes of Low‐Income Women: A Review of the Social Causation, Social Selection, and Interactionist Hypotheses

“…These single mothers may benefit from intensive interventions that address the serious barriers they face, including employment assistance, treatment for mental distress, and human capital enhancement. Equally important, such support may continue to be important when the mothers are employed, as their employment may be unstable (Blank, 2007;Iversen & Armstrong, 2007).…”

“…From an ethnographic examination of low-income people, Iversen and Armstrong (2007) quote a case manager about an issue that gives insight into the effects of policies to aid the poor. The workforce program offered postemployment services including emergency funds and moral support for 1 year after joining a job.…”

“…Thus the 1-year mark is called the "end of a honeymoon period" by case managers as the support fades away for clients. This is a particularly vulnerable time that threatens job retention for families transitioning into employment and often leaves the family with less childcare support (Iversen & Armstrong, 2007). This example reveals the complications of policies that help get families "on their feet" but inevitably end important supports that buoyed the family and made their fragile existence more stable.…”