Parental Work Research Articles

Out of hours

Should early years settings allow their staff members to carry out babysitting work for parents in their own time? Gabriella Jozwiak asks our panel

Cancer survivors’ use of crowdfunding campaigns: AI-generated patterns of reported medical financial hardship and unmet social needs.

542 Background: Cancer survivors and their families frequently experience medical financial hardship and may make trade-offs with other household economic needs to save money. Crowdfunding campaigns have become increasingly common for requesting financial support to cover expenses for medical treatments and daily living necessities. However, little is known about cancer survivors’ use of personal crowdfunding campaigns, including the amounts and types of financial support received. Methods: Ten thousand fundraiser stories related to cancer were randomly selected from 2022 GoFundMe using a distributed web scraper. Additional campaign information from publicly available GoFundMe webpages included organizer’s information, fundraising goal, amount of money raised, and donation records. A brief survey was designed and implemented with OpenAI, which analyzed each fundraiser story to extract cancer survivors’ sociodemographic characteristics, medical financial hardship, and unmet social needs. For each campaign, the fundraiser story and the corresponding survey were sent to GPT-3.5-Turbo model through the OpenAI’s application programming interface. Extracted information included beneficiary’s age, cancer site and stage, time since diagnosis, treatment status, employment status and work disruption due to cancer (ages ≥18 years), school absenteeism and parent’s work disruption (ages <18 years), lack of sick leave, income loss, struggles with expenses for medical treatments, housing, food, transportation, and monthly bills. Results: Among 10,000 cancer-related fundraiser stories, 3,275 specified age of the beneficiary with cancer (774 ages <18 years, 2,531 ages ≥18 years). Moreover, the most common cancer sites were breast (n=583), colon (n=223), and brain (n=169) in ages ≥18 years; leukemia (n= 217), brain (n= 139), and bone (n=52) in ages <18 years. Average amount raised was $10,205 (ages <18 years; median: $4,908, inter quantile range [IQR]: $1,692-$13,252) and $8,515 (ages ≥18 years; median: $3,684, inter quantile range [IQR]: $1,495-$9,258). Only 10.8% reached their fundraising goals. Among cancer survivors aged <18 years, 26.6% experienced school absenteeism and 8.8% described parental work disruptions. Among survivors aged ≥18 years, frequently listed reasons for financial support needs include work disruption (51.4%) and income loss (37.1%), lack of sick leave (33.3%), and struggles with expenses for medical treatments (94.0%) and for housing, food, transportation, and monthly bills (22.6%). Conclusions: Cancer-related crowdfunding campaigns are used to pay for medical and other basic household expenses, underscoring the fragility of safety nets in the US. Examination of fundraising stories can provide important insights to the types of financial hardship experienced by cancer survivors and inform future interventions.

Parenting and parent–child home practice during the COVID-19 pandemic: a case in central China

The current study aims to explore parents’ perceptions of parenting and parent–child activities at home with children aged 3–6 during the pandemic in China. A parenting survey was conducted to investigate parental role, age, educational background, work productivity, and different parenting categories during the lockdown period. We also examined the experiences of young children’s participation in extracurricular activities before and after the stay-at-home policy was implemented as well as their activities with parents during the lockdown period. The results showed that parents’ work productivity affected their perceptions of well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. Children spent less time on extracurricular activities during the lockdown period, but some particular activities increased in frequency, especially academic extracurricular activities.

Investigating the gendered nature of new parents’ digital technology use for health information

Abstract Background Parenting is marked by intense emotional and health information needs for individuals and families. Understanding how digital technologies are used by new parents may allow public health organizations to tailor digital health information resources and delivery methods to better meet needs. Methods A qualitative descriptive study was conducted to understand new parents’ experiences with digital technology during their transition to parenting. Individuals in Ontario, Canada who had become a parent in the past 24 months were recruited to participate in a focus group. Participants were asked to describe the technologies used to support their parenting and how they were used to support self and family health. Focus group data were subjected to thematic analysis using inductive coding. Results Focus groups were conducted with 26 heterosexual female participants. Participants primarily used digital technologies (smartphone, social media) to seek information on maternal, foetal, and infant health and establish social and emotional supports. Parental health information work was gendered and categorized by 2 dominant themes. First, “‘Let me know when I'm needed'” typifies fathers’ limited health information seeking and reinforces mothers as lay information mediaries. Second, “Information Curation” captures participants’ belief that gender biases built-in to digital parenting resources reified the gendered nature of health information work for new parents. Conclusions While parents regularly use digital resources for health information seeking, the gendered nature of such digital resources reinforces gendered divisions of health work. Key messages • Digital technologies tailored to new parents actively reinforces gender norms. • Public health organizations have an opportunity to engage with new parents to identify how digital information resources can be created that support equitable division of health information work.

Nexus between Family Environment and Entrepreneurial Intentions of Students in the Faculty of Management Sciences, Veritas University, Abuja

There is a general apathy towards entrepreneurial activities among students in the Faculty of Management Sciences, Veritas University, Abuja. Unarguably, this lack of enthusiasm is traceable to the general moral decadence among youths in both the family environments and university environments. This is occasioned by the increasing failure of parents to properly bring up their children/wards particularly with the intent of making them self-reliant. Consequently, with a special focus on the family, it is important to understand the role of the family environment in triggering the dimensions of entrepreneurial intentions (i.e., personal attitude towards a behaviour, subjective norms and perceived behaviour control) in students. The study adopted a cross-sectional survey research design, and employed a combination of census method, a criterion sampling technique and questionnaire to collect data from 100 to 400 level students in the six departments in the faculty. A criterion sampling technique was employed to select the sample size of 115 students from the population of 279 students. The criteria for selection are that: (i) the parents work in or own a family business; (ii) that the student was partly or wholly involved in a family business; and (iii) the student actively participated in the previous entrepreneurship courses he/she had taken. The generated data were subjected to Pearson product moment correlation. The relationships between family environment, and personal attitude towards a behaviour, subjective norms and perceived behaviour control were found to be positive and significant. The study recommends empowerment of families to create new or expand existing family businesses. Again, family members, including students, should be involved in the running, management and control of such businesses from an early age.

Risk of breast cancer in daughters of agricultural workers in Denmark

ObjectivesAgricultural workers face unique occupational hazards such as pesticide exposure, which has been associated with breast cancer. However, research considering the association between parental agricultural work and breast cancer in female offspring is lacking. Therefore, the aim of the present nested case-control study was to explore this association. MethodsThe Danish Cancer Registry was utilized to identify women diagnosed with primary breast cancer. A total of 5587 cases were included in the study, and for each case, 20 cancer-free female controls were selected, matched on year of birth. It was a requisition that both cases and controls were born in Denmark and that either maternal or paternal employment history was available. ResultsAdverse associations were consistently noted for different time windows of maternal employment in “Horticulture” and breast cancer. Inverse associations were observed for paternal employment in most of the examined agricultural industries, although a small increased risk was indicated for perinatal employment in “Horticulture”.Furthermore, maternal preconceptional employment in “Horticulture” was observed to increase the risk of ER positive tumors (odds ratio [OR] = 1.79, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.13–2.85, whereas parental perinatal employment was linked to an elevated risk of ER negative tumors (maternal employment: OR = 2.48, 95% CI: 1.18–5.21; paternal employment: OR = 1.62, 95% CI: 0.70–3.77). ConclusionsThe present study indicates that maternal horticultural employment in different potential susceptible time windows may elevate the risk of breast cancer subtypes in daughters. These findings need to be reproduced in future prospective cohort studies, including information on e.g., pesticide exposure withing agricultural job categories and lifestyle factors.

Family structures and parents’ occupational models: its impact on children’s diabetes

AimsThis study examines how family-related factors influence the management of children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes (T1DM). We investigate the relationship between family patterns, parental work schedules and metabolic control.Materials and methodsWe analysed data from a nationwide diabetes survey (DPV) focusing on HbA1c, severe hypoglycaemia, diabetic ketoacidosis, hospital admissions and inpatient treatment duration. We used linear regression and negative binomial regression models. Our study includes 15,340 children under the age of 18 with data on family structure and parental division of labour.ResultsChildren from two-parent households have better HbA1c outcomes than children from single-parent, blended or no-parent households (p < .0001). Higher HbA1C levels are associated with children living with an unemployed father, as opposed to those with full-time working parents or with a full-time working father and a part-time working mother (p < .001).ConclusionsThese findings emphasise the importance of carefully considering family structure and working time models in the management of paediatric T1DM. Our results highlight risk factors within the family environment and emphasise the need for family-focused counselling of high-risk patients or severe cases in clinical practice.

Taxing reproduction: the full transfer cost of rearing children in Europe.

What are the intergenerational resource transfer contributions of parents and non-parents in Europe? Using National Transfer Accounts and National Time Transfer Accounts for 12 countries around 2010, we go beyond public transfers (net taxes) to also value two statistically much less visible transfers in the family realm: of market goods and of unpaid household labour (time). Non-parents contribute almost exclusively to public transfers. But parents additionally provide still larger private transfers: mothers mainly time, fathers mainly market goods. Estimating transfer stocks over the working life, the average parental/non-parental contribution ratio in Europe flips from 0.73 (public transfers alone) to 2.66 (all three transfers combined). The highest combined parental/non-parental contribution ratios are in Sweden and Finland. The metaphorical tax rates implicitly imposed thereby on rearing children in Europe are multiples of the value-added tax rates in place on consumption goods. Unveiling the sheer magnitude of these invisible transfer asymmetries carries multiple implications for policy debates. For instance, it raises the question whether ageing European societies unwittingly tax, rather than subsidise, their own reproduction. Family friendly policy models, such as the Nordic welfare states, do not mitigate this effect. They help parents work, but do not lower the implicit tax parents pay.

The Relationship between Parental Education and Occupation Levels on Biology Science Learning Outcomes

This research aims to determine the relationship between educational level and parental employment on the learning outcomes of class VII students at SMP N 4 Batang Anai, Padang Pariaman Regency. This type of research is descriptive correlational. The population in this study were all class VII students of SMP N 4 Batang Anai, Padang Pariaman Regency. The research results between educational level and biology science learning outcomes are (tcount 5.175 with a significance value of 0.000 &lt; 0.05) and the contribution amount is 17.8% of the results, showing that there is a significant relationship. Parental work and biology science learning outcomes are (t-count 2.477 with a significance value of 0.015 &lt; 0.05) with a contribution amount of 4.7%. The results show that there is no significant relationship. The level of education and employment of parents with the results of studying biology science is (Fcount 14.176 with a significance value of 0.000 &lt; 0.05) and the contribution amount is 18.7%, The results show that there is a significant relationship. It can be concluded that parental occupation is significantly related to biological science learning outcomes, as well as parental education is significantly related to biological science learning outcomes, and parental education and employment are significantly related to biology science learning outcomes for class VII students at SMP N 4 Batang Anai Regency. Padang Pariaman.

Parent-preferred childcare environment styles: A latent class analysis and association with parental stress

In recent years, child-rearing dimensions have been widely used as predictor variables. However, they are rarely examined as outcomes. Moreover, little is known about what constitutes good parenting. We aimed to identify the potential groups related to parents’ childcare environment preferences and examine its association with parental stress. We conducted a cross-sectional survey in government-licensed childcare centers among families with children aged 3–5 years across Japan. We investigated the childcare environment based on five dimensions—human stimulation, social stimulation, avoidance of restriction, parent cooperation, and social support—and sources of high parental stress, including childcare, health status, relationships, work, and others. The potential childcare environment groups were explored using latent class analysis. The relationship between parental stress and childcare environment was analyzed using a chi-square test and logistic regression model. Moreover, data from 928 families were collected and used for the analysis. Two latent class models were identified: a favorable childcare environment with high parent cooperation (F-H; probability = 76.4 %) and moderate childcare environment with low parent cooperation (M-L; probability = 23.6 %). High stress from childcare, health status, relationships, work, and other stressors were significantly related to M-L. Knowing the results would add evidence to childcare practice.

Future risk in Japanese parents raising children with special needs

This paper examines relationships in married couples raising children with special needs — children requiring medical care, from an economic point of view in the context of parental employment. There is an opinion that the burden of parents with children requiring medical care who are close to being a “handicapped child” is so heavy, that the couple’s relationship can be jeopardized. How does the parents’ employment relate to the burden of parenting and how does it affect the couple’s relationship? The research method is a survey of married couples with children throughout Japan (conducted in 2021). The questionnaire consisted of two parts: with multiple choice questions and open-ended questions. The multiple choice questions dealt with (1) family structure: number of persons in the household including number of children requiring medical care and their age, (2) parental employment, and (3) marital relationship (division of housework and childcare, communication between parents, frequency and reasons for fights). In considering how parents work, terms such as “shared responsibility” for dual-income families and “isolation” and “cooperation” for single-income families were key words in considering sustainable marital relations. The open-ended questions part shows what is necessary for the parents to maintain a sustainable relationship. In this paper we come to the conclusion that one of the reasons for troubles that the parents face is the fact that the definition of the term “children requiring medical care” is too broad. We suggested that this term should be subdivided so that administrative support could be spread widely, and that support should be tailored to the family’s lifestyle (e.g., career and other parental needs).

The role of family’s sociodemographic status at incidence of stunting in Senggreng village, Malang regency

Nutritional problems are still a major public health problem in Indonesia. Malnutrition generally occurs in toddlers because, at that age, children experience rapid growth. One of the health indicators that is assessed for its success in achieving the SDGs is the nutritional status of children under five. Toddlers are a group that is vulnerable to malnutrition, which will be marked by stunting. Stunting (shortness) is a linear growth disorder caused by chronic malnutrition or chronic or recurrent infectious diseases, as indicated by a z-score for height for age (height/age) less than -2 SD. Cases of stunting in children can be used as a predictor of the low quality of a country's human resources. Stunting causes poor cognitive ability, low productivity, and an increased risk of disease, resulting in long-term losses for Indonesia. This study used an analytic observational method and was conducted in the working area of Sanggreng Village, Malang Regency and the data analysis uses SPSS. In this study, 24 stunting samples were taken from the child population in Sanggreng Village, Malang district. The results of the descriptive analysis showed that the proportion of male stunting and female was almost the same. Parental education and work were not related to intake of stunting (p&gt; 0.05). According to the study results, the most dominant cause of stunting is a history of exclusive breastfeeding. Toddlers who get exclusive breastfeeding have a 9.3 times smaller risk of stunting than toddlers who don't get exclusive breastfeeding, or exclusive breastfeeding provides a protective effect against stunting in toddlers. This is due to the proportion of stunting problems found at the age of less than 2 years. Ideally, a child will receive exclusive breastfeeding until the age of 6 months. In this study, exclusive breastfeeding was given at most until the age of 20–24 months (9%) and then at the age of 6–9 months. In this study, it was also found that 18 children had been given breast milk at the beginning of 6 months of life (18%), and 4 other populations were given breast milk and other foods in the form of formula milk.

Does a Longer Work Horizon Affect Offsprings' Labour Market Outcomes?

This paper studies the effect of an increase in the work horizon of middle aged workers on the school-work transition of their offsprings aged 15–29 years. I exploit the variation in the parental work horizon induced by the 2012 Fornero reform in Italy that abruptly changed the age and years of social security contribution requirements for pension eligibility. Utilising a difference-in-difference strategy in a multi-valued treatment setting, the study shows that the reform-induced increase in the work horizon of mothers caused an increase in the probability of their offsprings seeking their first job and a decrease in these offsprings’ probability of being a student. This effect is higher among offsprings who are male, those aged 15–21, those with mothers without a University degree and those in southern Italy. Fathers did not significantly affect the student status or any labour market outcomes of their offsprings. Mechanisms behind these findings include the longer reform-induced work horizon for mothers vs. fathers, and the consequent positive effect on mothers’ lifetime earnings.

The Impact of the Linus Literacy Programme on Reading Ability Skills in Malaysia

This study was conducted to identify factors contributing to reading proficiency among primary school students who attended the Literacy and Numeracy Screening (LINUS) Programme in Malaysia. A total of 108 students were selected to participate in this study, which used a mixed method. The findings show no significant difference in the proficiency of reading aspects between students in terms of gender. However, the findings proved that students whose parents work in the government sector show better achievement than students from families where their parents working in the private sector. This study also found that students obtained a better command in reading during the post-test was higher than during the pre-test. A qualitative approach is applied to obtain desired data by using observation, interview and document review techniques. The study found that the LINUS teachers used various methods such as demonstrations, instructions, drills and fun learning during teaching sessions while incorporating learning aids; for instance, scan cards and reading kits help students recognise syllables and increase reading ability. Low-income parents, type of occupation, passive LINUS students and frequent absenteeism are among the constraints identified in this study. Keywords: education, LINUS programme, literacy, primary schools

Associations between parental precarious work schedules and child behavior problems among low‐income families

AbstractObjectiveThis study examined associations between parental precarious work schedules and child behavior problems among a sample of families with low incomes receiving child‐care subsidies and tested three hypothesized mediators of these associations: work–family conflict, economic insecurity, and child‐care instability.BackgroundAs “just‐in‐time,” or on‐call, scheduling practices become more prevalent among low‐paid workers, working parents must balance family demands with precarious work schedules characterized by instability, unpredictability, and lack of control. Precarious work schedules may threaten child well‐being by increasing parents' work–family conflict and stress, economic insecurity, and child‐care instability. Yet, few studies have been able to empirically test these relationships.MethodThis study uses data from a survey of child‐care subsidy recipients to test the associations between five dimensions of parental precarious work schedules—variable work hours and shifts, limited advance notice, unexpected schedule changes, and lack of schedule control—and child externalizing behavior problems via work–care conflict, economic insecurity, and child‐care instability. Analyses use Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression and decomposition methods and control for a host of child, parental, and household characteristics.ResultsVariable shifts were indirectly associated with more parent‐reported child behavior problems via work–care conflict, whereas unexpected schedule changes were indirectly associated with more behavior problems via both work–care conflict and material hardship.ConclusionThese findings add to a growing evidence‐base on the incongruence between precarious employer‐driven scheduling practices and the needs of families with young children.

Passporting of parents of disabled children as an analytical resource of social policy

The article presents the results of a study of the main social and household characteristics of families with disabled children, conducted in the territory of the Belgorod region (targeted survey; n = 990). The research made it possible to answer questions about children's health problems, their living conditions, the economic status of the family, the work of parents, the social environment and other characteristics of families. The article examines the passporting method of target problem (socially vulnerable) groups as an effective way of obtaining system information, a social picture of the situation, conditions, and problems of such families. The results of the research made it possible to determine the risks associated with the condition of children who require constant help and support, the category of families with unsatisfactory living conditions, the need for advanced training and retraining among parents. An important result of the study was the income map of families with disabled children, which identified the problematic characteristics of the socially vulnerable group and helped determine the directions of primary assistance and support. The scientific result of the article is the conclusion about the need for systematic control of all problematic components of the life of families raising disabled children, about the need for monitoring such information for the organization of targeted assistance and changes in social policy to meet the actual needs of such families.

The effect of parental income and work expectation on interest in taking master degree in undergraduate students at the economic education department faculty of Economics Universitas Negeri Gorontalo

The effect of parental income and work expectation on interest in taking master degree in undergraduate students at the economic education department faculty of Economics Universitas Negeri Gorontalo

Academic Performance among Filipino Students with Parents Working Abroad

This study aims to evaluate the academic performance of students with OFW (Overseas Filipino Worker) parents in selected schools on Siargao Island, Surigao del Norte. It utilizes a descriptive quantitative research design through the survey method. The researchers employ a purposive sampling method, selecting only students whose parents are OFWs to participate as respondents in this study. Based on the study’s findings, the outstanding academic performance of respondents in their classes, as measured by the General Point Average (GPA), is not significantly affected by the absence of their parents. In addition, using one-way ANOVA, no significant difference in the academic performance of the respondents was observed when categorized according to their socio-demographic profiles

The Effect of Parental Support on the Learning Motivation of Grade IV Elementary School Cluster 3 Students of Kempo District for the 2022/2023 Academic Year

Based on the results of initial observations made in grade IV of SDN Cluster 3 Kempo District on March 3, 2020, that work and high economic demands in this modern era make parents work hard to meet their daily family needs, so that the time spent on children is very limited to pay attention and monitor children's learning activities, So that children learn at will and in their daily lives are used to play PlayStation, games commuted on computers and the internet. Parental support given to children is still not optimal. Parental support is very important because it can motivate them to achieve achievements and can build self-confidence and foster enthusiasm when children face problems

Pemahaman Keberagaman Peserta Didik Berdasarkan Profil Peserta Didik Sebagai Upaya Pemenuhan Target Kurikulum Merdeka

The purpose of this study is to provide an understanding of the diversity of students in terms of learning styles and student profiles to fulfill the targets of the Kurikulum Merdeka. The research method used is descriptive quantitative research with a one-way ANOVA analysis. The object of this research is the X.E.5 students at SMAN 2 Padang. The teacher's understanding of learning styles and student profiles is expected to be able to assist teachers in determining appropriate learning strategies and methods so that Kurikulum Merdeka's targets can be achieved. The results show that: 1) Gender differences do not have a significant effect on student learning outcomes; 2) Differences in the work of parents do not influence student learning outcomes; and 3) Differences in learning styles affect student learning outcomes.