Experiencing Material Hardship Research Articles

Evaluating the long-term effects of income assistance for material hardship among families with children

BackgroundAs a key aspect of poverty, material hardship describes day-to-day struggles in affording necessities. In explorations of policy initiatives that mitigate material hardship, evidence suggests direct income support can be effective in alleviating hardship. However, research investigating the long-term effects of income supports is limited, and it remains uncertain as to how benefit receipt may mitigate material hardship for families with children across time. MethodsTo explore the associations between income assistance and material hardship longitudinally, we utilised data from four waves of the Growing Up in New Zealand birth-cohort study (n = 5964), where family experiences were tracked between birth and adolescence. The variables of interest included mother-reported receipt of income benefits and material hardship from when the children were aged 9-months, 54-months, 8-years, and 12-years. Multilevel logistic regression analysis was employed to examine the associations between benefit receipt and material hardship in the short- and long-term. Interaction terms between benefit receipt and time were incorporated in the modelling to determine whether receiving benefits corresponded with significant changes in the likelihood of experiencing material hardship at specific time points. ResultsThe key results suggest that benefit receipt in early childhood reduced the likelihood of experiencing material hardship at subsequent time points at least until adolescence, when controlling for key sociodemographic characteristics. ConclusionThese findings provide insight into the associations between early childhood income supports and reductions in the likelihood of experiencing material hardship in the long-term, to emphasise the potential for such interventions to have longstanding effects. By elucidating the associations between benefit receipt and subsequent material hardship, this research gives direction for policy interventions and timely support for families.

A Quantitative Analysis of LGBTQ Material Hardship at Research Universities

This quantitative study examined the material hardships experiences of LGBTQ students at research universities. Using a series of regression analyses, we find relationships between students’ sexual identity and experiencing material hardship, including differential relationships when disaggregating by sexual orientation. These results identify unique experiences for students based upon their sexual orientation and expand understandings of LGBTQ students’ experiences with material hardship beyond community colleges or aggregate understandings.

Making a way out of no way: The importance of improving financial instability among African American kinship care families

Close attention should be given to the increased reliance on kinship care to provide out-of-home care for vulnerable children and youth because although these families have various strengths, they also frequently face financial instability and experience material hardship. Living in poverty and experiencing material hardship are linked to an array of negative outcomes, including physical and mental health problems, elevated parental stress, and children’s academic difficulties and social and behavioral problems. This study examined African American families who are providing informal kinship care with the aim of developing a nuanced understanding of the financial characteristics, challenges, and coping strategies of these families. Data for this study were obtained from two sources: (1) an exploratory sequential mixed-method pilot study and (2) the National Financial Capability Study. It was found that most caregivers in the pilot reported their family resources were only seldom or sometimes adequate to cover their household’s basic needs. Some caregivers reported being unaware of public benefits and community resources available for kinship care families, and they had difficulties navigating the system. Additionally, family members’ love and support for each other helped them to cope with financial instability. Using a nationally representative dataset, predicted probabilities for three types of financial instability were higher among households with demographic characteristics of kinship care families including difficulty covering expenses, having income that exceeds expenses, and having emergency savings. Implications for practice, policy, and future research are discussed.

Material Hardship, Protective Factors, Children’s Special Health Care Needs, and the Health of Mothers and Fathers

BackgroundParents of children with special health care needs (CSHCN) are at risk of poorer health outcomes. Material hardships also pose significant health risks to parents. Little is known about how protective factors may mitigate these risks and if effects are similar between mothers and fathers. MethodsThis was a cross-sectional survey study conducted using the US 2018/2019 National Survey of Children’s Health, including parents of children 0 to 17 with income <200% of the federal poverty level. Separately, for parents of children with and without special health care needs (N-CSHCN), weighted logistic regression measured associations between material hardship, protective factors (family resilience, neighborhood cohesion, and receipt of family-centered care), and 2 outcomes: mental and physical health of mothers and fathers. Interactions were assessed between special health care needs status, material hardship, and protective factors. ResultsSample consisted of parents of 16,777 children; 4440 were parents of CSHCN. Most outcomes showed similar associations for both mothers and fathers of CSHCN and N-CSHCN: material hardship was associated with poorer health outcomes, and family resilience and neighborhood cohesion associated with better parental health outcomes. Family-centered care was associated with better health of mothers but not fathers. Interaction testing showed that the protective effects of family resilience were lower among fathers of CSHCN experiencing material hardship. ConclusionsFamily resilience and neighborhood cohesion are associated with better health outcomes for all parents, though these effects may vary by experience of special health care needs, parent gender, and material hardship.

Intra-year employment instability and economic well-being among urban households: Mitigating effects of the social safety net

Labor market structures and job characteristics have changed in the United States over the last few decades – often making work more unpredictable. Employment instability, or job churning, may have distinct consequences for households’ economic well-being. Meanwhile, American social policies have shifted from cash-based benefits toward in-kind and work-conditioned programs. Yet, we know little about how social programs buffer the financial hardships imposed by economic shocks due to job churning. This paper harnesses novel data collected at 3-month intervals to study the associations between household members’ employment trajectories and (1) household income packages, (2) poverty status, and (3) material hardships, paying particular attention to whether government benefit receipt buffers against the adverse financial consequences of unstable employment. We find that consistent unemployment is most strongly associated with low income and poverty but not material hardship. Unstably employed households, particularly those that are single-adult headed households and experienced only job losses are significantly more likely to experience material hardship than consistently employed households. Our results also suggest that cash transfers effectively buffer against the negative impact of persistent unemployment, while in-kind transfers appear more important for unstably employed households, particularly those that are single-adult headed households. Together, these results highlight the roles and extent of impacts of cash, in-kind benefits, and the tax system, which can inform future policy recommendations in an age of high levels of economic insecurity.

Effects of prenatal polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and childhood material hardship on reading achievement in school-age children: A preliminary study.

Children from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds are at elevated risk for reading problems. They are also likely to live in neighborhoods with high levels of air pollution and to experience material hardship. Despite these risk factors, the links between prenatal chemical exposures, socioeconomic adversities, and reading problems in youth from disadvantaged backgrounds remain understudied. Here we examine associations between prenatal exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), a common air pollutant, and reading skills, and determine if this relationship is exacerbated by material hardship among Black and/or Latinx children who have been followed as part of a longitudinal urban birth cohort. Mothers and their children, who were participants in a prospective birth cohort followed by the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health, were recruited for the current study. Personal prenatal PAH exposure was measured during the third-trimester of pregnancy using a personal air monitoring backpack. Mothers reported their level of material hardship when their child was age 5 and children completed measures of pseudoword and word reading [Woodcock Johnson III Tests of Achievement (WJ-III) Basic Reading Index] at age 7. We used multiple linear regression to examine the effects of the interaction between prenatal PAH and material hardship on Basic Reading Index, controlling for ethnicity/race, sex, birthweight, presence of a smoker in the home (prenatal), and maternal education (prenatal) (N = 53). A prenatal PAH × material hardship interaction significantly associated with WJ-III Basic Reading Index scores at age 7 (β = -0.347, t(44) = -2.197, p = 0.033). Exploratory analyses suggested that this effect was driven by untimed pseudoword decoding (WJ-III Word Attack: β = -0.391, t(44) = -2.550, p = 0.014). Environmental chemical exposures can be particularly toxic during the prenatal period when the fetal brain undergoes rapid development, making it uniquely vulnerable to chemical perturbations. These data highlight the interactive effects of environmental neurotoxicants and unmet basic needs on children's acquisition of reading skill, specifically phonemic processing. Such findings identify potentially modifiable environmental risk factors implicated in reading problems in children from economically disadvantaged backgrounds.

Material Hardship and the Living Arrangements of Older Americans.

This study investigates the extent to which the household living arrangements of older adults influences their experiences of material hardship. Using data from the 2014 Panel of the Survey of Income and Program Participation, we run linear probability models with individual fixed effects to estimate the likelihood that a change in living arrangements predicts a change in food insecurity, housing hardship and utility hardship. Although household living arrangements are associated with reports of material hardship for older adults, individual fixed effect models point to a reduced role for the change in living arrangements on the change in the probability of experiencing material hardship. For older adults, we find that moving into a non-family household increases the risk of housing hardship. This study illustrates how the risk of material hardship related to family living arrangements changes over the life course. We call for increased attention to the risk of material hardship for older adults living alone, those in multigenerational living arrangements, and non-family households.

Material Hardship and Association With Sexual Risk Behavior Among Adolescent Sexual Minority Males in 3 US Cities-National HIV Behavioral Surveillance-Young Men Who Have Sex With Men, 2015.

Adolescent sexual minority males (ASMMs) are disproportionately affected by HIV relative to other youth within the United States. Social determinants of health have been explored among this population; however, economic determinants, such as material hardship, remain understudied. We examined the relationship between material hardship and sexual behavior among ASMMs aged 13-18 years residing in 3 US cities using 2015 data from CDC's National HIV Behavioral Surveillance among Young Men Who Have Sex with Men. Young men ages 13-18 years residing in 3 US cities were recruited through venue-based, respondent-driven, or Facebook sampling. We estimated adjusted prevalence ratios (aPRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for condomless anal intercourse (CAI) with a male sex partner in the past 12 months and with having 4 or more male sex partners in the past 12 months. Of 547 ASMMs, 27% reported experiencing material hardship in the past 12 months. After adjusting for demographics, household characteristics, and city, ASMMs who experienced material hardship were more likely to report CAI with a male partner in the past 12 months (aPR: 1.55, 95% CI: 1.25 to 1.93) and to have had 4 or more male sex partners in the past 12 months (aPR: 1.44, 95% CI: 1.08 to 1.91). More than a quarter of ASMMs experienced material hardship that was associated with increased sexual risk behavior among ASMMs. Incorporating services that address all unmet needs is important to consider for HIV prevention efforts for ASMMs.

Welfare recipients communicated pathways to resilience during stigma and material hardship in the heartland of America

ABSTRACT When individuals and families experience material hardship, government assistance programs and community services are there to help. The use of government assistance programs in the United States is highly stigmatized due to neoliberal ideology. The present study centers the lived experiences of those who have experienced material hardship and had firsthand experience with public assistance programs. This phronetic research study analyzed 27 semi-structured interviews with welfare recipients to explore how they used communication to cultivate resilience in response to material hardship and adversity. The findings of this study demonstrate the connection between communication behaviors and resilient reintegration. Resilient communication behaviors included the use of a communication network and the construction of occupational and familial identity anchors. When participants lacked resilient communication behaviors, they faced more isolation. This study points to the importance of communication as a resilience process in response to material hardship and neoliberal stigma.

Housing Cost Burden, Material Hardship, and Well-Being

ABSTRACT Millions of households face housing affordability problems as house prices and rents rise faster than incomes. Yet little is known about how high housing expenditures affect well-being. Using data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation, we examine the relationship between housing cost burden, material hardship, and residential satisfaction after the Great Recession. We find that households with higher housing cost burdens were more likely to experience some form of material hardship, controlling for other variables. The probability of material hardship increased with cost burden for households spending up to 50% of their income on housing. However, households that spend more than half of their income on housing are no more likely to experience material hardship than households who spend around 50%. We find some evidence that families with children trade high housing costs for improvements in housing conditions. The findings provide empirical support for using housing cost burden as a measure of affordability and suggest higher housing cost burdens may contribute to decreased well-being through multiple forms of material hardship but also may have threshold effects.

Childhood Material Hardship and Adolescent Mental Health

Adolescent mental health has implications for current and future wellbeing. While a link exists between poverty and mental health, little is known about how experiencing material hardship, such as insecurity of food, housing, utilities, and medical care, throughout early childhood affects adolescent mental health. We examine the relationship between material hardship in childhood and adolescent mental health. We use Poisson regression to examine the effect of material hardship experienced at different stages of childhood on adolescent depression and anxiety outcomes at age 15. We use longitudinal data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study ( N = 3,222). We find that recently experiencing material hardship during childhood is positively and significantly associated with anxiety and depression symptoms at age 15, even when controlling for material hardship at age 15. Additionally, we find that insecurity during mid-childhood and the stress of lacking basic needs during a critical age may influence mental health in adolescence.

Material Hardship, Mental Health, and Parenting Stress among Grandparent Kinship Providers in COVID-19

The COVID 19 pandemic has exposed the vulnerability of many families, including grandparent kinship families, to deal with a health/economic crisis. The fear of COVID-19 plus stay-at-home orders have increased individuals’ psychological distress. Moreover, school closures and homeschooling further increased parenting stress among caregivers. This study examined the relationship between material hardship and parenting stress among grandparent kinship providers and assessed grandparents’ mental health as a potential mediator to this relationship during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. Grandparent kinship providers (N=362) that took primary care of their grandchildren participated in a cross-sectional survey via Qualtrics Panels in June 2020 in the United States. Descriptive and bivariate analyses, binary logistic regression, and mediation analyses were conducted using STATA 15.0. Experiencing material hardship (OR = 1.67, p < 0.001) was significantly associated with higher odds of parenting stress among grandparent kinship providers, and grandparents’ mental health (indirect effect = 0.11, 95% CI [0.01, 0.25]) partially mediated this association. Addressing material and mental health needs among grandparent kinship providers is critical to decreasing their parenting stress.

Vulnerability to COVID-19-related Harms Among Transgender Women With and Without HIV Infection in the Eastern and Southern U.S.

COVID-19 is a new pandemic, and its impact by HIV status is unknown. National reporting does not include gender identity; therefore, data are absent on the impact of COVID-19 on transgender people, including those with HIV. Baseline data from the American Cohort to Study HIV Acquisition Among Transgender Women in High Risk Areas (LITE) Study provide an opportunity to examine pre-COVID factors that may increase vulnerability to COVID-19-related harms among transgender women. Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Miami, New York City, Washington, DC. Baseline data from LITE were analyzed for demographic, psychosocial, and material factors that may affect vulnerability to COVID-related harms. The 1020 participants had high rates of poverty, unemployment, food insecurity, homelessness, and sex work. Transgender women with HIV (n = 273) were older, more likely to be Black, had lower educational attainment, and were more likely to experience material hardship. Mental and behavioral health symptoms were common and did not differ by HIV status. Barriers to health care included being mistreated, provider discomfort serving transgender women, and past negative experiences; as well as material hardships, such as cost and transportation. However, most reported access to material and social support-demonstrating resilience. Transgender women with HIV may be particularly vulnerable to pandemic harms. Mitigating this harm would benefit everyone, given the highly infectious nature of this coronavirus. Collecting gender identity in COVID-19 data is crucial to inform an effective public health response. Transgender-led organizations' response to this crisis serve as an important model for effective community-led interventions.

Material Hardship and Contraceptive Use During the Transition to Adulthood.

Decades of research have attempted to understand the paradox of stubbornly high unintended pregnancy rates despite widespread use of contraception. Much of this research has focused on socioeconomic disparities in rates of unintended pregnancy, finding that economically disadvantaged women tend to use less effective contraceptive methods and use them less consistently. Building on this research, this study examines how material hardship is associated with less consistent contraceptive use among women who do not desire to become pregnant. Using the Relationship Dynamics and Social Life (RDSL) Study, a weekly longitudinal survey, I find lower levels of contraceptive use and less consistent use of contraception among women experiencing material hardship, relative to those without hardship experiences. I also investigate the extent to which this association is explained by access barriers and lower contraceptive efficacy among women experiencing hardship. Using structural equation modeling, I find that these mediators significantly explain the relationship between hardship and risky contraceptive behaviors, suggesting that hardship creates mental and resource constraints that impede successful implementation of contraception. However, net of these mediators, material hardship remains associated with riskier contraceptive behaviors among young women, calling for further research on how hardship exposes women to greater risk of unintended pregnancies.

Material Hardship and Indoor Allergen Exposure among Low-Income, Urban, Minority Children with Persistent Asthma.

Traditional measures of socioeconomic status (SES) are associated with asthma morbidity, but their specific contributions are unclear. Increased exposure to indoor allergens among low SES children is an important consideration. Material hardship, a concept describing poor access to basic goods and services, may explain the relationship between low SES and indoor allergen exposure, and thereby, the increased risk of asthma morbidity. We sought to (i) describe the specific hardships experienced by low-Income, urban, minority children with asthma and indoor allergen sensitization and (ii) determine if material hardship is associated with indoor allergen exposure in this population. We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of children undergoing the baseline assessment for a clinical trial of home environmental modification. Participants were scored in five domains of material hardship. Domain scores were assigned based on caregiver responses to a questionnaire and were summed to generate a total material hardship score. Linear regression was used to examine the relationship between material hardship scores and bedroom floor concentrations of five common indoor allergens. Participants experienced high levels of material hardship in each of the five domains, with 33% not having access to a car, 35% not being able to pay utility bills, and 28% not being able to pay rent in the past year. Each one-point increase in material hardship was associated with an increase in cockroach allergen of 16.2% (95% CI 9.4%, 24.6%) and an increase in mouse allergen of 9.4% (95% CI 1.0%, 18.5%). After adjusting for traditional measures of SES, including household income, health insurance type, caregiver education, and caregiver employment status, the association between material hardship and cockroach allergen, but not mouse allergen, remained. These data suggest that a significant proportion of families of low-income, minority children with asthma may experience material hardship, and that they may be at greater risk of cockroach allergen exposure than their peers with similar income, but without material hardship.

Many of the kids are not alright: Material hardship among children in the United States

The material well-being of children has profound implications for a variety of social and health outcomes. This paper provides estimates of the prevalence and intensity of material hardship among children by various demographic groups and reveals stark disparities by race and educational attainment. According to a pooled sample of the nationally-representative Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) 36.5% of children lived in households reporting at least one form of material hardship, such as food insecurity, inability to pay essential household bills, inability to access medical care due to cost, or substandard and overcrowded housing. This is well above the proportion considered to be below the income poverty line (18.4%). Children were more likely to live in households experiencing material hardship than seniors.

Trajectories of material living standards, physical health and mental health under a universal pension

ObjectiveAged pension schemes aim to support material and non-material well-being of older populations. The current work aimed to describe dominant trajectories of material living standards in the decades prior to...

Socioeconomic well-being in early adulthood among repeat versus one-time teenage mothers.

Teenage mothers are known to be at elevated risk for poor socioeconomic outcomes in adulthood. However, little is known about the socioeconomic outcomes of mothers who bear multiple children during the teenage years (repeat teenage mothers) compared to one-time teenage mothers. This study examines socioeconomic outcomes in the mid- to late 20s of repeat teenage mothers compared to one-time teenage mothers in a national U.S. sample. Repeat teenage mothers were less likely to graduate high school and more likely to receive public assistance and experience material hardship than one-time teenage mothers in their mid- to late- 20s. Lower educational attainment plus the responsibility of caring for multiple children as a young mother may make it difficult for repeat teenage mothers to secure economic stability. Additional supports may be necessary to improve long-term socioeconomic outcomes of repeat teenage mothers.

Combined association of BTEX and material hardship on ADHD-suggestive behaviours among a nationally representative sample of US children.

Previous research shows that environmental and social factors contribute to the development of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). To determine the relationship between early-life exposure to common ambient air pollutants (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene, also known as BTEX), household material hardship (a measure of socio-economic status), and ADHD-suggestive behaviours in kindergarten-age children. Pollutant exposure estimated from the 2002 National Air Toxics Assessment ateach child's residential ZIP code at enrolment was linked to the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Birth Cohort (n=4650). Material hardship was assigned as a composite score of access to food, health care, and housing. Kindergarten teachers rated children's behaviours and activity in the classroom using a five-point Likert scale. Children with summary scores in the bottom decile were classified as displaying ADHD-suggestive behaviours. Logistic regression models were constructed to estimate the association between both BTEX exposure and material hardship on ADHD-suggestive behaviours. The odds of displaying ADHD-suggestive behaviours were greater in children with combined high-level exposure to BTEX and in those experiencing material hardship (odds ratio 1.54, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.12, 2.11, and OR 2.12, 95% CI 1.25, 3.59, respectively), adjusting for covariates. These associations were stronger when restricting the study population to urban areas. There was no evidence of interaction between early life BTEX exposure and material hardship, although the effects of BTEX exposure were slightly greater in magnitude among those with higher material hardship scores. Children exposed to air toxics, material hardship, or both early in life are more likely to display signs of ADHD-suggestive behaviours as assessed by their kindergarten teachers. The associations between exposures to air pollution and to socio-economic hardship were observed in all children but were particularly strong in those living in urban areas.

Intimate Partner Violence and Material Hardship Among Urban Mothers.

Using a longitudinal population-based sample (n = 4,234), this study explored the association of intimate partner violence (IPV) with material hardship. We found that women who experienced IPV are substantially more likely to experience material hardship, even after controlling for a comprehensive set of static and time-varying characteristics, including material hardship at the prior wave and individual fixed effects. Associations were strongest for experiences of physical abuse (the least prevalent type of IPV) and controlling abuse (the most prevalent type of IPV) but were weaker for emotional abuse. Results suggest that IPV increases the probability of material hardship by 10-25%.