Household Hardship Research Articles

Childhood Exposure to Family Violence, Residential Instability, and Parental Incarceration: Compounding Household Adversities and Adolescent Delinquency

Objectives: Although childhood exposure to family violence has been linked to crime and delinquency over the life course, it rarely occurs in isolation from other household hardships. Drawing from developmental hypotheses of cumulative disadvantage and disadvantage saturation, we examine how the effect of childhood exposure to family violence (i.e., witnessing violence against one's mother) on adolescent delinquency varies when it co-occurs with two interrelated familial adversities: residential instability and parental incarceration. Methods: Using longitudinal data from the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study ( N = 3,191), we assess categorical combinations of childhood exposure to family violence, residential instability, and parental incarceration (years 3–9) on adolescent delinquency (year 15). Logistic regression models are specified for overall, nonviolent, and violent delinquency, controlling for a host of confounding variables. Results: Exposure to family violence has the strongest association with delinquency when combined with childhood residential instability and parental incarceration. The findings align with the cumulative disadvantage hypothesis, and these patterns are strongest for overall and nonviolent delinquency outcomes. Conclusions: Life-course research should explicitly consider the broader landscape of adversity in which childhood exposure to family violence occurs, recognizing that its long-term effects may be contingent upon or amplified by co-occurring household hardships.

Unveiling hidden dimensions: A novel bifactor approach to unraveling adverse childhood experiences

BackgroundAdverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are associated with diverse negative health outcomes and are commonly screened for in primary care, research, and clinical practice. However, more research is needed surrounding the conceptualization, measurement, and application of ACEs measures. ObjectiveThis study examines the bifactor structure and internal reliability of a short, practical, and commonly used ACEs questionnaire and assesses how the factor structure is associated with correlates of ACEs. Participants and settingData from Utah's 2020 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, a telephone survey assessing the prevalence of health-related behaviors among a sample of adults in Utah (N = 8978, Mage = 51.5, SD = 19.4, Range = 18–99; 50 % female, 87.1 % White) was analyzed. MethodsExploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to determine the best-fitting factor structure and examined correlations between the identified factors and poor health and substance use with structural equation modeling. ResultsA three-factor bifactor model best fit the data and its components had associations of different direction and magnitude with outcomes (bifactor: health β = 0.83, p < .001, substance use β = 0.14, p = .025; household hardship: health ß = −0.49, p < .001, substance use ß = 0.23, p < .001; general abuse: health ß = −0.63, p < .001, substance use ß = 0.18, p = .036; sexual abuse: health ß = −0.25, p < .001). ConclusionsResults highlight the importance of using a bifactor approach to examine and score ACEs measures rather than a traditional total sum score method.

Household hardships and responses to COVID-19 pandemic-related shocks in Eastern Ethiopia

BackgroundCOVID-19 resulted in enormous disruption to life around the world. To quell disease spread, governments implemented lockdowns that likely created hardships for households. To improve knowledge of consequences, we examine how the pandemic period was associated with household hardships and assess factors associated with these hardships.MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional study using quasi-Poisson regression to examine factors associated with household hardships. Data were collected between August and September of 2021 from a random sample of 880 households living within a Health and Demographic Surveillance System (HDSS) located in the Harari Region and the District of Kersa, both in Eastern Ethiopia.ResultsHaving a head of household with no education, residing in a rural area, larger household size, lower income and/or wealth, and community responses to COVID-19, including lockdowns and travel restrictions, were independently associated with experiencing household hardships.ConclusionsOur results identify characteristics of groups at-risk for household hardships during the pandemic; these findings may inform efforts to mitigate the consequences of COVID-19 and future disease outbreaks.

Associations of household unmet basic needs and health outcomes among very low birth weight children.

We examined associations of past year household hardships (housing, energy, food, and healthcare hardships) with postnatal growth, developmental risk, health status, and hospitalization among children 0-36 months born with very low birth weight (VLBW) and the extent that these relationships differed by receipt of child supplemental security income (SSI). We examined cross-sectional data from 695 families. Growth was measured as weight-for-age z-score change. Developmental risk was defined as ≥1 concerns on the "Parents' Evaluation of Developmental Status" screening tool. Child health status was categorized as excellent/good vs. fair/poor. Hospitalizations excluded birth hospitalizations. Compared to children with no household hardships, odds of developmental risk were greater with 1 hardship (aOR 2.0 [1.26, 3.17]) and ≥2 hardships (aOR) 1.85 [1.18, 2.91], and odds of fair/poor child health (aOR) 1.59 [1.02, 2.49] and hospitalizations (aOR) 1.49 [1.00, 2.20] were greater among children with ≥2 hardships. In stratified analysis, associations of hardships and developmental risk were present for households with no child SSI and absent for households with child SSI. Household hardships were associated with developmental risk, fair/poor health status, and hospitalizations among VLBW children. Child SSI may be protective against developmental risk among children living in households with hardships.

Beyond income: material hardship and the health and healthcare of premature children.

To estimate national prevalence of household hardships (food insufficiency, financial hardship, and difficulty paying medical bills) among children born term and preterm; and examine associations of household hardships with preterm children's outcomes (health status, emergency room visits, and unmet healthcare needs). We studied 24,026 children aged 0-3 years born term, preterm with moderately low birth weight (1501-2499 grams) and preterm with very low birth weight (VLBW; ≤1500 grams). Using propensity score matching to control for correlates of poverty, we examined associations of hardships and child outcomes. Compared with term, households with preterm VLBW children had >2-fold higher odds of financial hardship (aOR:2.63; 95% CI: 1.26-5.46) and >5-fold higher odds of difficulty paying bills (aOR:5.60; 95% CI: 2.35-10.35). Matching for sociodemographics, special healthcare needs, income and receipt of public benefits, hardships were independently associated with adverse preterm children's outcomes. Addressing household hardships is needed to optimize preterm child outcomes.

Did A Fruit and Vegetable Incentive Program Support low-income Households in North Carolina during the COVID-19 Pandemic? A Mixed Methods Assessment of the Healthy Helping Program and Other Pandemic-Related Food Assistance

ABSTRACT In 2020, the Healthy Helping Fruit and Vegetable Program provided SNAP-eligible beneficiaries with $40/month, for up to 3 months, to purchase fruits and vegetables at a chain supermarket in North Carolina. A survey to describe participants’ experiences with the program and interviews to explore whether these experiences were shaped by participating in other pandemic-related food access programs were conducted. In conjunction with other food access programs, programs that allow participants freedom to choose what they purchase may alleviate household hardships and provide greater access to nutrient-dense foods during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.

Experiences of wellbeing and resilience among refugee mothers and families in Calgary during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the role of participation in HIPPY, a home visiting program.

In order to provide meaningful and effective support to refugees in Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as during post-pandemic recovery efforts, it is critical to explore the experiences of refugee mothers and families during the pandemic, and to identify sources of resilience that can be leveraged to promote individual and household wellbeing. From November 2020 to June 2021, we conducted in-depth interviews with mothers from refugee backgrounds (n = 28) who resettled in Calgary, Alberta and are currently participating in the Multicultural Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY) program. Interviews were conducted virtually using Microsoft Teams; we sought to better understand the pathways and barriers to wellbeing experienced by refugee mothers during the pandemic. The results indicate that the refugee mothers and families in our study experienced widespread disruptions to education and employment and increased motherhood burden, contributing to diminished wellbeing. Mental health was further impacted by heightened levels of worry, stress and social isolation, as well as intense fear pertaining to the spread of SARS-CoV-2. Some mothers reported experiencing barriers to accessing healthcare services and reliable health information during the pandemic. In the face of these challenges, the mothers demonstrated great resilience and identified tangible individual, household and extra-household factors and resources that supported them in coping with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, our findings suggest that participation in HIPPY played a significant role in fostering the resilience of the participating mothers and families during the pandemic, speaking to the potential of home visiting intervention models in mitigating household hardship during current and future public health crises.

Household economic instability: Constructs, measurement, and implications

A growing body of research demonstrates the multiple dimensions and dynamism of family income and employment. The metrics of household economic instability and their associations with household characteristics and hardship require further examination in order to compare across studies, subgroups, and historical periods. This paper empirically examines and compares commonly used measures of income and employment instability, how these measures inter-relate, vary by household characteristics, and how they predict household hardship. Using longitudinal data from the 2008 panel of the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), and focusing on households with children, this study examined a range of descriptive measures of economic instability, including in income, earnings, public assistance benefits, and employment status, and how these measures related to each other. Results indicate that overall rates of income and employment instability were high, particularly among less-educated families, those with young children, and those who did not own a home. Economic instability, particularly decreases in employment, was associated with increased household hardship three months later. Findings also show that the source of income included in the instability measure affects the patterns identified and conclusions drawn, whereas the specific type of measure used matters less. Results highlight the instability of public assistance benefits and suggest that safety net programs must take economic instability into account when designing programs and benefits.

Divergent visions: Intersectional water advocacy in Palestine

This article draws lessons about environmental justice from a case study in the Jordan River Valley of the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Building on notions of justice as recognition, the article argues that inclusive environmental justice agendas require the recognition of multiply marginalized groups and the fundamentally different understandings of environmental hazards and benefits they may have, and it proposes the use of intersectional analysis to do so. The village of al-Auja faces severe water-related challenges: a closed Israeli military zone blocking access to the Jordan River, which has also shrunk and grown polluted in recent decades; water wells with declining capacity and increasing salinity and a lack of permits to rehabilitate them; and the drying of a once-perennial spring. Residents, local government officials, and Palestinian staff members of a transborder nongovernmental organization agreed in identifying Israeli occupation as a key cause of water stress and articulated justice-based protests. However, while some emphasized the lack of Palestinian sovereignty over natural resources, others concentrated on the obstruction of villagers’ agricultural livelihoods and household hardships. The article demonstrates that different life experiences, particularly along lines of rural/urban residence, career, and gender, shaped divergent definitions among Palestinians of environmental benefits and harms, and thus different priorities for environmental justice work. It suggests that attending to complex, intersecting lines of social experience in the early stage of environmental campaigns, when defining problems and forming goals for improvement, can lead to more representative reparation plans, institution building, and activist agendas.

Women\u2019s income and risk of intimate partner violence: secondary findings from the MAISHA cluster randomised trial in North-Western Tanzania

BackgroundIntimate partner violence (IPV) is pervasive throughout the world, with profound consequences for women’s health. While women’s ‘economic empowerment’ is touted as a potential means to reduce IPV, evidence is mixed as to the role of different economic factors in determining women’s risk. This paper explores associations and potential pathways between women’s income and experience of IPV, in Mwanza city, Tanzania.MethodsWe use data from married/cohabiting women (N = 740) enrolled in the MAISHA study, a cluster randomised trial of an IPV prevention intervention. Women were interviewed at baseline and 29-months later. We use logistic regression to model cross-sectional (baseline) and longitudinal associations between: a woman’s monthly income (quartiles) and her past year risk of physical IPV, sexual IPV and economic abuse; and a woman’s relative financial contribution to the household (same/less than partner; more than partner) and past year physical IPV and sexual IPV.ResultsAt baseline, 96% of respondents reported earning an income and 28% contributed more financially to the household than their partner did. Higher income was associated with lower past-year physical IPV risk at baseline and longitudinally, and lower sexual IPV at baseline only. No clear associations were seen between income and economic abuse. Higher relative financial contribution was associated with increased physical IPV and sexual IPV among all women at baseline, though only among control women longitudinally. Higher income was associated with several potential pathways to reduced IPV, including reduced household hardship, fewer arguments over the partner’s inability to provide for the family, improved relationship dynamics, and increased relationship dissolution. Those contributing more than their partner tended to come from more disadvantaged households, argue more over their partner’s inability to provide, and have worse relationship dynamics.ConclusionsWhile women’s income was protective against IPV, women who contributed more financially than their partners had greater IPV risk. Poverty and tensions over men’s inability to provide emerge as potentially important drivers of this association. Interventions to empower women should not only broaden women’s access to economic resources and opportunities, but also work with women and men to address men’s livelihoods, male gender roles and masculinity norms.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov #NCT02592252, registered retrospectively (13/08/2015).

The Real Effects of Financial Technology: Marketplace Lending and Personal Bankruptcy

We examine how financial technology affects household hardship in terms of personal bankruptcy. We exploit an exogenous source of variation in marketplace lending, a court verdict rendering above-usury loans issued by banks to Connecticut and New York residents null and void if the loans are sold outright to non-banks. We document a persistent rise in personal bankruptcies following the verdict and a decline in marketplace lending, particularly among low-income households. Marketplace loan defaults and other consumer credit by banks and finance companies remain unaffected, suggesting that increases in personal bankruptcy arise principally from reversing access to new lending technology.

Correlates of Food Security among Low-Resource Young People: An Assessment of Community Protective Factors within Public Housing Neighborhoods.

This paper assesses how and/or whether household and community factors are associated with self-reported food security among young people living in public housing (N=151). Results suggest that food security was negatively related to age, particularly to older youth. Also, household size-have many people in the household, household hardships, and household conflict were negatively related to food security. On the contrary, food security was positively related to community cohesion and the presence of the extended family within the public housing neighborhood. Findings seem to suggest that non-specialty food previsions (e.g., community cohesion and family networks) may be important in understanding food security among families living in public housing. A number of program and policy implications are presented.

«Звучание тишины»: контрасты и парадоксы сталинской эпохи в газетной графике

The 1930s Soviet press is full of inner paradoxes not only due to the rapidly changing criteria applied to the evaluation of events and personalities, but also due to the drastic change in the usual worldview. Though relying heavily on everyday details, the ideological tools are far away from reality and consider it from a superior position. The paradoxes of newspaper information are illustrated by means of visual images that are meant to support the text and solve propaganda tasks, attack political adversaries, mock at household hardships as well as unconscious citizens. Being ideologically tuned, approved by certain structures and double-checked, cartoons, drawings and posters did not repeat the text of the article but provided it with a new meaning and uncovered the implications of events.The Za Tyazheloye Mashinostroyeniye (“For Heavy Engineering Industry”) newspaper that for many years was the main media organization of the Ural Heavy Engineering Plant (Uralmash Plant) was following the uniform informational policy. The Editorial Board’s independence is most evident in the production coverage and the most academically attractive material is connected with the life of Uralmash and the depiction of local events and people. The cartoon here is an essential tool for castigating vice; for this reason, the antagonists produce a stronger impression than the stale and inarticulate depiction of pacesetters and heroes. The system of graphics in the newspaper, i. e. the poster with its relative language and its longing for extreme situations, the drawing aiming at nature and everyday realia, the cartoon with its pronounced punitive function, does not only turn out to be uncoordinated but internally inconsequential. The emphasized simplicity of drawings, noticeable carelessness and clumsiness seem intentional and one may even speak about a certain Soviet newspaper style characterized by a syncretism of images and the printed word. However defective, the visual language turned out to be more truthful than newspaper language, unwillingly disclosing the mechanisms of manipulation proper. The casualness, glibness, dynamicity and expressiveness as well as aggressiveness of drawings correspond to the intensive life of the Soviet state, the swift and heroic changes and bravura of the epoch; on the other hand, once can recognize in them the deadly petrifaction of plaster giants and the appalling recurring hypnotic sleep. These all make an impression of oppressive silence. Unwillingly, in their words newspaper artists reflected the contradictory character of the epoch that claimed victory over time and found itself coming to a moral dead-end of social stagnation.

Emergency Saving and Household Hardship

Households with limited income and wealth often struggle to access the financial liquidity needed to address unexpected expenses or income drops. Emergency savings can act as form of insurance against such economic shocks and reduce the risk of hardships that influence family wellbeing. Prior research has established that threshold amounts of liquid assets can reduce the risk of economic hardship. This study used a measure of self-reported emergency saving behavior to examine whether households who reported saving for emergencies were less likely to experience subsequent economic hardships in a longitudinal sample of households in disadvantaged neighborhoods from the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Making Connections project. Results across a range of regression models suggest that households who saved for emergencies experienced slightly less overall hardship and were less likely to report several specific hardships, such as food insecurity and having a phone disconnected, three years later. This study supports the idea that small, unrestricted savings may play a protective role for low-income households.

Economic Hardship, Housing Cost Burden and Tenure Status: Evidence from EU-SILC

The primary goal of this study is to contribute on the literature on poverty by looking at household economic hardship in relation to the housing cost burden. Being one of the most significant outlays in a household balance, housing costs may indeed cause households to reduce non-housing expenditure such as health care, education, food, and clothing, thus creating serious household economic hardship. Using microdata from the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions dataset (EU-SILC) regarding five European countries (Italy, Germany, UK, Spain, and France) we have examined the predictive power of housing costs in explaining family economic hardship. Furthermore, we have jointly estimated the effect of the housing cost burden upon economic hardship for renters versus home-owners paying mortgages. Results showed that housing costs represent a non negligible burden in all the five European countries. Moreover, home ownership was found to significantly reduce household hardship status.

Household Hardships, Public Programs, and Their Associations with the Health and Development of Very Young Children: Insights from Children’s HealthWatch

America’s low-income families struggle to protect their children from multiple threats to their health and growth. Many research and advocacy groups explore the health and educational effects of food insecurity, but less is known about these effects on very young children. Children’s HealthWatch, a group of pediatric clinicians and public health researchers, has continuously collected data on the effects of food insecurity alone and in conjunction with other household hardships since 1998. The group’s peer reviewed research has shown that a number of economic risks at the household level, including food, housing and energy insecurity, tend to be correlated. These insecurities alone or in conjunction increase the risk that a young child will suffer various negative health consequences, including increases in lifetime hospitalizations, parental report of fair or poor health,1 or risk for developmental delays.2 Child food insecurity is an incremental risk indicator above and beyond the risk imposed by household-level food insecurity. The Children’sHealthwatch research also suggests public benefits programs modify some of these effects for families experiencing hardships. This empirical evidence is presented in a variety of public venues outside the usual scientific settings, such as congressional hearings, to support the needs of America’s most vulnerable population through policy change. Children’s HealthWatch research supports legislative solutions to food insecurity, including sustained funding for public programs and re-evaluation of the use of the Thrifty Food Plan as the basis of SNAP benefits calculations. Children’s HealthWatch is one of many models to support the American Academy of Pediatrics’ call to “stand up, speak up, and step up for children.”3 No isolated group or single intervention will solve child poverty or multiple hardships. However, working collaboratively each group has a role to play in supporting the health and well-being of young children and their families.

Household Hardships, Public Programs, and Their Associations with the Health and Development of Very Young Children: Insights from Children's HealthWatch

Household Hardships, Public Programs, and Their Associations with the Health and Development of Very Young Children: Insights from Children's HealthWatch

Commentary on "Household Hardships, Public Programs, and Their Associations with the Health and Development of Very Young Children: Insights from Children's HealthWatch"

Commentary on "Household Hardships, Public Programs, and Their Associations with the Health and Development of Very Young Children: Insights from Children's HealthWatch"

Predictors of household hardship in a resource constrained environment: The case of Sub-Saharan Africa

Using data from the 2004 wave of the Afrobarometer survey, this study examines correlates of household hardship in three countries of sub-Saharan Africa: Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Findings provide partial support for the hypothesized relationship. Specifically, poverty reduction initiatives and informal assistance are associated with reduced hardship while civic engagement is related to an increase in household hardship. We also note that certain demographic characteristics are linked to hardship. Policy and practice implications are suggested.

Risk and Capability in the Context of Adversity: Children's Contributions to Household Livelihoods in Ethiopia

This article analyzes how children in Ethiopia respond to household adversity in the context of poverty. It highlights the association between poverty and other forms of hardship and the complex interplay of risk and protective factors in young people's lives. It argues that identifying adversity is not straightforward because beliefs affect the outcomes of such experiences, and different cultures and actors hold different views on the matter, so that assumed risks can in some cases be protective and foster specific competencies in the young. To support this argument, children's work—often viewed as a risk—and their role in preventing and mitigating household hardship are underlined as a potential source of protection, resilience and skills development. In this way, the limitations of research that focuses solely on detrimental child outcomes of risk exposure are revealed and the need for a more nuanced, multi-actor view of these processes is emphasized.