. 2020 Oct 25;42(Suppl 1):107–117. doi: 10.1007/s10834-020-09715-7

Table 2.

Summary of findings and suggested areas of future research questions on family life issues among low-income families

Topic	Findings	Suggested areas of future research questions
Work and family balance	• Rural low-income families were able to juggle the demands of work and family life if they had access to resources such as informal social support, could manage both work and family time, and were in jobs that supported work and family life (Katras et al. 2015) • Low-income mothers relied on informal support for childcare and household tasks and depended on sympathetic supervisors who provided flexible work hours (Katras et al. 2015; Son and Bauer 2010) • Higher residential mobility was associated with changes in employment status and relationships, experiences of intimate partner violence, as well as private-market rentals, substandard housing, and bad neighborhoods, all of which can lead to work-family life imbalance (Kull et al. 2016)	• What are factors that will enable low-income mothers to successfully maintain work family balance? • What strategies would incentivize employers to provide flexible work policies and establish community-based support system for limited-resource parents? • How does a residential move affect family well-being and what is the role of housing subsidies on family well-being in the context of residential mobility?
Parenting dynamics	• Difficulties of living in poverty, combined with the demands of parenting young children, can create stress and chaos among unmarried couples who coparent children (Jamison et al. 2017) • Since successful coparents managed their limited resources well, the best way to assist them cope day-to-day stress is by providing adequate resources and information on how to use them effectively (Jamison et al. 2017) • Low-income fathers, who did not provide finances or primary care, defined responsible fatherhood as spending time in non-caregiving activities, voluntarily distancing themselves from a child when it’s in the child’s interest, acknowledging paternity in non-legal settings, spending money on presents, engaging in fun activities, and attending to special needs, keeping abreast of what’s going on in the child’s home, and ensuring that they are not absent from the child’s life (Myers 2013)	• What is the special dynamic among unmarried, limited-resource coparents and the unique challenges that they face including their cohabiting status and the presence of other children and stepchildren? • What are the social contexts (i.e. upbringing) and the exposure of fathers to a variety of paternal responsibility that are related to their fatherhood ideologies in comparison to mainstream fatherhood ideology?
Child well-being and poverty	• Among young children (36 months), poverty status was related to lower cognitive skills; presence of non-liquid assets was associated with higher cognitive skills; greater material hardship was correlated with more social problems (Kainz et al. 2012) • Low-income parents who received child subsidies tend to choose center-based care and childcare, regardless of type, are of higher quality with child subsidies (De Marco and Vernon-Feagans 2015) • Decision to enroll in preschool children’s college education accounts were influenced by parental education level and their participation in information sessions about the account (Okech 2011) • Low-income mothers chose healthcare visits for themselves and their child simultaneously (Valluri et al. 2015)	• What is the interaction among income, material hardship, and non-liquid assets and how does this impact the physical, cognitive, and socio-emotional development of children? What is the result of using the same measures on older children from low-income families and children from other socio-economic status? • What is the role of isolation in the availability of childcare programs? What is the association between childcare quality and stigma surrounding receipt of welfare benefits among families who do not apply for this benefit? • What is the long-term outcome of childcare subsidies on children? What are the factors that influence parent’s decision to participate in children’s college education accounts? • How do different types of health insurance coverage affect mother’s joint decision-making for pediatric and maternal healthcare usage?

Topic

Findings

Suggested areas of future research questions

Work and family balance

• Rural low-income families were able to juggle the demands of work and family life if they had access to resources such as informal social support, could manage both work and family time, and were in jobs that supported work and family life (Katras et al. 2015)

• Low-income mothers relied on informal support for childcare and household tasks and depended on sympathetic supervisors who provided flexible work hours (Katras et al. 2015; Son and Bauer 2010)

• Higher residential mobility was associated with changes in employment status and relationships, experiences of intimate partner violence, as well as private-market rentals, substandard housing, and bad neighborhoods, all of which can lead to work-family life imbalance (Kull et al. 2016)

• What are factors that will enable low-income mothers to successfully maintain work family balance?

• What strategies would incentivize employers to provide flexible work policies and establish community-based support system for limited-resource parents?

• How does a residential move affect family well-being and what is the role of housing subsidies on family well-being in the context of residential mobility?

Parenting dynamics

• Difficulties of living in poverty, combined with the demands of parenting young children, can create stress and chaos among unmarried couples who coparent children (Jamison et al. 2017)

• Since successful coparents managed their limited resources well, the best way to assist them cope day-to-day stress is by providing adequate resources and information on how to use them effectively (Jamison et al. 2017)

• Low-income fathers, who did not provide finances or primary care, defined responsible fatherhood as spending time in non-caregiving activities, voluntarily distancing themselves from a child when it’s in the child’s interest, acknowledging paternity in non-legal settings, spending money on presents, engaging in fun activities, and attending to special needs, keeping abreast of what’s going on in the child’s home, and ensuring that they are not absent from the child’s life (Myers 2013)

• What is the special dynamic among unmarried, limited-resource coparents and the unique challenges that they face including their cohabiting status and the presence of other children and stepchildren?

• What are the social contexts (i.e. upbringing) and the exposure of fathers to a variety of paternal responsibility that are related to their fatherhood ideologies in comparison to mainstream fatherhood ideology?

Child well-being and poverty

• Among young children (36 months), poverty status was related to lower cognitive skills; presence of non-liquid assets was associated with higher cognitive skills; greater material hardship was correlated with more social problems (Kainz et al. 2012)

• Low-income parents who received child subsidies tend to choose center-based care and childcare, regardless of type, are of higher quality with child subsidies (De Marco and Vernon-Feagans 2015)

• Decision to enroll in preschool children’s college education accounts were influenced by parental education level and their participation in information sessions about the account (Okech 2011)

• Low-income mothers chose healthcare visits for themselves and their child simultaneously (Valluri et al. 2015)

• What is the interaction among income, material hardship, and non-liquid assets and how does this impact the physical, cognitive, and socio-emotional development of children? What is the result of using the same measures on older children from low-income families and children from other socio-economic status?

• What is the role of isolation in the availability of childcare programs? What is the association between childcare quality and stigma surrounding receipt of welfare benefits among families who do not apply for this benefit?

• What is the long-term outcome of childcare subsidies on children? What are the factors that influence parent’s decision to participate in children’s college education accounts?

• How do different types of health insurance coverage affect mother’s joint decision-making for pediatric and maternal healthcare usage?