Child Welfare

Child Welfare

Dr. William Schneider’s research examines the influence of macroeconomic factors, family complexity, fatherhood, and interventions in the promotion of child well-being and the prevention of child maltreatment. In an effort to better examine the role of maternal gainful employment patterns in preventing and causing child maltreatment, Dr. Schneider and colleagues analyzed 2,553 mothers’ employment data from the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study, a longitudinal birth cohort study of approximately 5,000 predominantly low-income families in 20 cities in 16 states. The study examines relationships between different dimensions of maternal employment and four types of child maltreatment proxies (exposure neglect, physical neglect, physical aggression, and psychological aggression) when children were 3, 5, and 9 years old. Findings suggest that compared to the categories that represent a standard work schedule, when mothers are employed much less or much more than a standard schedule, they are more likely to report proxy maltreating behaviors or maltreatment risks. This problem seems to be exacerbated for families with young children who require greater oversight and care. Results from this work underscore the importance of both time and money to provide safe and consistent care for children.

The results of Dr. Schneider’s study have significant social policy implications. Specifically, the findings identify two problems with basing prevention of maltreatment and social service receipt on employment, one is of time and the other money. Employment-based policies are, by definition, limited to those who are employed, thus excluding many families at risk of maltreatment. Employment may provide insufficient financial support and/or require a significant amount of time, resulting in deficient resources to provide safe and consistent care. The study team suggests that policy mechanisms designed to address the different needs of parents, such as childcare vouchers, federally funded state support for quality childcare that is available at non-standard hours, fair or predictive scheduling laws, and cash transfers are all approaches that can increase the time available to families without a financial cost or increase the income available to families without the consequence of lost time.

Research Team: William Schneider, Megan Feely, Jeehae Kang