This chapter draws upon 14 years of related ethnographic studies to uncover the principal features that characterize family life among the poor. Experiences dealing with multiple agencies are discussed, as well as experiences dealing with health problems in the context of the U.S. medical care system, and the aftermaths of household emergencies. 34 references.
This chapter synthesizes the results of both quantitative experimental and qualitative research about how low-income children fare as their mothers spend more time in the labor market and attempt to strike a new balance between work and parenting. Findings indicate policies that effectively increase parental income as they increase employment improve the well-being of young children and are the most promising for helping families cope. Numerous references.
A study used qualitative methods to explore the specific mechanisms and processes through which poverty and welfare changes affected 186 low-income families with young children. Particular attention was paid to the relative influences of factors related to welfare reform, family financial resources, and characteristics associated with parent, child, and family functioning. Case studies are offered. 26 references.
This final chapter reviews major findings from qualitative studies of low-income families facing a new policy environment that calls for women to work outside the home in addition to managing the second shift of work inside the home. Findings indicate women continue to put their children’s needs above paid employment, few women experience real economic gains by increased work participation, and children’s well-being appears to be buffered and advanced by women’s well-being, social support, and parenting quality. 39 references.
You can be a good dad and a successful businessman by being the same person in both places. Daddy@Work shows you how openness and tenderness can work at the office and how your management and planning skills can work at home. As a young executive, Robert Wolgemuth discovered how work and home could become "graduate schools" for each other. This is the message of Daddy@Work: a successful man transfers skills in one sphere to the other, thereby improving them both.Whether you're a white- or blue-collar worker, whether a CEO or an electrician, if the commute between home and business feels more…
This book is for young couples becoming a family, either pregnant or with a new baby. It meets you where you are -- ready or not, and married or unmarried -- and helps you to be your very best. The love you bring your baby can help your baby grow and thrive. As two parents, working together, you have twice as much to give. And there are lots of good ways to get free or low cost help.
With three major sections -- on parenting, couples issues, and financial issues -- it offers a wealth of needed information and resources. For agencies, the book is an efficient and affordable way to…
We begin with an overview of men’s participation in the workforce and their distribution across occupations. We briefly review vocational theories, and the limited research on men within those theoretical perspectives. We then review the research in men’s nontraditional careers, including studies that have investigated men who choose to be stay-at-home fathers. We also review the literature on men’s work–family interface, including their work–family and family–work conflicts. Finally, we discuss the research on men and career counseling. The latter is often a non-threatening entry for men…
This book explores how dramatic changes in family welfare policies over the past decade have impacted the work, child care practices, and relationships of low-income mothers and fathers. Drawing upon several local, State, and national qualitative studies, the book explores how women and men are reading the policy signals, rules, and incentives as they attempt to raise their children and earn sufficient income to hold their families together. The text is divided into three themes centered around women’s roles as workers and mothers, policy effects on children, and the evolving role of fathers…
This chapter outlines fathers' issues in harmonizing work and family needs and expectations. Using the metaphor of musical harmony as a paradigm for working fathers, it explores the significance of work for fathers in their role as parents and the frequent conflicts that occur between work and family contexts. Suggestions for dealing with work-family conflicts are offered, such as limiting work time as possible, bundling activities, staying in touch from a distance, and using flexible work options. 16 references.
The Caring Dads program is one of the first group intervention manuals designed specifically for men who have maltreated their children and / or exposed them to domestic violence. Developed and piloted over five years, this 17-session program draws from best practices in the fields of batterer intervention, parenting, child maltreatment, behavior change, and working with resistant clients. The Caring Dads manual provides clear, easy-to-follow guidelines and activities for the implementation of the program and is a useful tool for both experienced and relatively novice service providers.…
