Children and Parents

1. Children and Parents Why have children? The parental role Transition to parenthood What children need Socialization parenting styles class and race differences impact of child care Economics and children’s well being

2. Why have children? Economic Model • Decision to have children based on: • Income • Resource constraints • "Taste" for children • Parents may trade quantity for quality

3. Nine Values of Children(Hoffman and Hoffman) 1. Primary group ties 2. Stimulation and fun 3. Expansion of self 4. Adult status, identity 5. Achievement, creativity 6. Morality, social duty 7. Power and influence 8. Status, prestige 9. Financial security

4. The Parental Role Stages in most adult roles • Anticipation • Honeymoon • Plateau • Disengagement

5. Rossi -The Parent Role is Different: • Acquired overnight • No anticipatory stage • No formal preparation • No clear disengagement • Irrevocable: can't send them back

6. HowInfants Changed Families(LaRossa and LaRossa) • Changed conceptions of time • Traditionalized division of labor • Mother embraced role; father distanced himself • Mothers did more "hands-on“ care • Mothers perceived infants as more competent.

7. What children need from parents: • Material support • Emotional support • Structure/discipline • Values

8. Socialization • Primary socialization = teaching the culture to young child • Involves • Language/communication • Behaviors • Norms • Values • Includes support and control

9. Parenting Styles(Baumrind) • Authoritative: high support, consistent moderate discipline, parent as authority • Permissive: high support, low discipline, parent as companion • Authoritarian: low support, high discipline, parent in control

10. Traditional (Adult-Centered) Socialization • Goal: Raise a competent adult. • Assumption: Children naturally "wild" and must be controlled. • Values: obedience, neatness, respect of peers, discipline oriented to behavior, unsponsored independence. • Style: Authoritarian, "Parent Power“ • Similar to: “working class,” “natural growth”

11. Developmental (Child-Centered) Socialization • Goal: Develop child's potential. • Assumption: child has unique capabilities • Values: Self-direction, creativity, problem-solving, intellectual ability, sponsored independence, discipline oriented to motive. • Style: authoritarian or permissive, participatory, democratic. • Similar to: “middle class,” “concerted cultivation,” “intensive mothering”

12. Fathers and Socialization • Fathers interact differently with kids • More play; “rough and tumble” • Influence is less direct or immediate • More direct involvement = benefit to child • Direct involvement more difficult for dads • Little research on other adults as “dads:” (e.g. lesbian partner, grandmother, etc.)

13. “Good Dads – Bad Dads”2 modern father roles: 1. Involved Father: • Originated in colonial times • Lost after industrialization • Considered voluntary • Personal and economic sacrifice • Emotionally rewarding • Still less involved than mother

14. 2 modern father roles: 2. Absent Father: • Results from voluntary fatherhood. • Supported by women's employment and welfare. • Related to men's job opportunities. • Less attached to children. • More common among Blacks. • Harmful to children, women, and men.

15. How Can We Increase Fathers’ Involvement? • Cultural change: parenting as men's work • Individual change: learning parental skills • Marital change: wives' support and encouragement • Structural change: incentives and opportunities for fathering – “responsive workplace”

16. Child Care and Children’s DevelopmentOlder toddlers, Preschoolers • Quality care has few or no negative effects. • Learn social skills earlier. • Learn nontraditional roles. • May be more assertive and aggressive. • May become peer-oriented earlier.

17. Child Care and Children’s DevelopmentInfants, young toddlers • Findings are less conclusive • Probably no negative effects if hours are limited • Infants were less socially responsive, attentive, verbally expressive • May have implications for attachment

18. The Well-Being of American Children • Has well-being declined? • Compared with when? • Which children?

19. What is “well-being?” • Health care – probably better overall, but not for working poor • Income – rising standard of living, but mostly at the top • Intact families – proportion is decreasing

20. Poor prospects for children with: • An unmarried mother • A teen mother • A mother without a high school degree • A family income below the poverty line

21. Good prospects for children with: • A married mother • A mother who was 26 or older when 1st child was born • A mother who completed college • family income > 4 times the poverty rate

22. Children in the Middle • Downward drift since 1960s • More divorce, single parent families • More mothers working outside the home • Maybe less parental time • Moderate decline in economic status

23. Summary • People have children to enhance their lives • Transition to parenthood is very significant • Socialization increasingly child-centered, developmental • Fathers’ role significant, indirect • Voluntary notion of fatherhood • Child care has some effects on development • Mixed prospects for child well-being