Towards a deeper understanding of parenting on farms: A qualitative study

Abstract

BackgroundChildren living on farms experience exceptionally high risks for traumatic injury. There is a large body of epidemiological research documenting this phenomenon, yet few complementary studies that have explored the deep underlying reasons for such trends. Fundamental to this is understanding the decision-making processes of parents surrounding their choice to bring children, or not, into the farm worksite.ObjectivesTo (1) document farm parent views of the risks and benefits of raising children on a family farm, and, (2) understand more deeply why children are brought into the farm worksite.MethodsInterviews were conducted as part of a larger cohort study, The Saskatchewan Farm Injury Cohort. Subsequent to an initial mail-out question focused on parental decision-making, 11 semi-structured telephone interviews were conducted with rural Saskatchewan farm parents. Interviews were digitally recorded and transcribed verbatim, then thematically analyzed using interpretive description methodology.FindingsThis parental decision-making process on farms fundamentally involves weighing the risks vs. benefits of bringing children into the worksite, as if on a balance scale. One side of this scale holds potential risks such as exposure to physical and chemical farm hazards, in the absence of full supervision. The other side holds potential benefits such as meeting family needs for childcare, labour, and family time; building work ethic and pride; and the positive impacts of involvement and responsibility. Decision-making 'tips the scales', in part dependent upon parental perceptions of the risk-benefit trade-off. This 'perceptual lens' is influenced by factors such as: the agricultural way of life, parents' prior knowledge and past experience, characteristics of children, and safety norms.ConclusionsThis novel qualitative study provides deep insight into how Saskatchewan farm parents approach a fundamental decision-making process associated with their parenting. The proposed model provides insight into the etiology of pediatric farm injuries as well as their prevention.

Broadening Our Understanding of Farm Children’s Risk Exposure by Considering Their Parents’ Farming Background

“…We had also expected that multi-generation respondents would be more likely to adopt safety practices, such as physical barriers, because they might be more attuned to the dangers on the farm. Yet, the high level of confidence and perception of safety are in line with previous findings that farm parents report knowing best about their children’s abilities and safety needs [ 9 , 28 , 50 ] and that farmers are aware of the nature and types of dangers [ 23 , 59 , 77 ]. Furthermore, previous studies have also found a similar contradiction between farm safety beliefs, knowledge, and practices [ 27 , 75 , 77 ].…”

“…The second explanation, albeit very closely related to the first, is connected to knowledge biases. The farm safety literature has pointed to the overconfidence of farmers and their risk-taking with explanations connected to masculine identity, the prioritization of economic activity, and social norms around heavy workloads [ 9 , 24 , 31 , 33 , 77 , 81 ]. Murphy [ 82 ] has also discussed the farm safety-risk paradox, wherein farmers know that the work is dangerous, but they are still willing to take risks, and in some cases, forgo farm safety practices (i.e., helmets, rollbars, etc.).…”

“…In the context of our study, this might mean that the adoption of farm safety practices may not be economically feasible. Indeed, Hagel, Pahwa, Dosman and Pickett [ 57 ] and Elliot, Cammer, Pickett, Marlenga, Lawson, Dosman, Hagel, Koehncke and Trask [ 77 ] have pointed to the link between economic factors and the adoption of farm safety practices. Furthermore, while the supervision of children off the worksite is an important strategy to reduce children’s exposure to risk [ 2 , 44 , 84 ], farm parents face challenges towards accessing and paying for childcare, with a greater proportion of first-generation farmers reporting challenges than multi-generation farmers [ 7 , 14 , 85 ].…”

The invisible labor and multidimensional impacts of negotiating childcare on farms

“…Farms can be hazardous places for children of farmworkers and farm owner-operators (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2020). Caring for children on farms, particularly when industrial equipment is present, entails different kinds of supervision than suffices in non-farm settings (Morrongiello et al 2012;Liebman et al 2019), and parents must regularly weigh the risks and benefits of children's onfarm presence (Elliot et al 2018). Researchers have recently called for improved childcare access for farmworker parents to help prevent pediatric injuries (Liebman et al 2014;Miller et al 2016).…”

Work accidents with children and youth in a rural environment in southern Brazil

“…However, in another study (13) there were high rates of these accidents in the age group of 10 years or less, North Carolina (18) , Brazil (20) , Nepal (21) , and Canada (22) confirmed this finding by verifying that children and already suffered some type of occupational accident and that 188 (51,2%) worked more than eight hours a day.…”