The Association between Material Hardship and Parenting Aggravation: A Comparison of Families Experiencing Intermittent Versus Persistent Poverty

Background and Purpose: Economic hardship has been found to be associated with psychological distress. In the case of raising a child, such psychological distress may be exacerbated by the economic burden of the family and the responsibility of caregiving. Moreover, parents with fewer financial resources may experience more parenting stress than parents who do not. Although myriad studies have found associations between material hardship and psychological distress, no studies to our knowledge have focused on poverty status as a malleable factor over time. The current study sought to: 1) understand the impact of intermittent versus persistent poverty on the relationship between material hardship and parenting aggravation; and 2) test mother-child closeness as a potential mechanism that may partially explain the relationship between material hardship and parenting aggravation, by poverty status.

Methods: Using data from four waves (baseline, ages 1, 3, and 5) of the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS), three groups were extracted to indicate poverty status: families that experienced poverty only once (intermittent poverty; n = 580), families that lived in poverty for four consecutive waves (persistent poverty; n = 588), and families that did not experience poverty at all (n = 1,334). The independent variable, material hardship, was measured by responses to questions asking if they received free food or meals, they did not pay the full amount of rent or mortgage payment, for example, in the past year. The mediator, mother-child closeness, was measured by ratings of how close the caregiver perceived them to be to their child (e.g., “extremely close” to “not very close”). The outcome variable, aggravation in parenting, was measured from a fifth wave (age 9) with four items (e.g., “taking care of children is harder than I thought it would be”) that respondents rated the extent of their agreement to. Covariates included maternal age, race, education, marital status, child’s gender, and the number of kids in the household. We ran multiple regression analysis with two models with and without the mediator by poverty status. Using the Sobel test, we examined the mediation effects of material hardship and mother-child closeness on parenting aggravation.

Results: There was a positive and significant association between material hardship and parenting aggravation regardless of poverty status. This relationship was particularly strong among families not experiencing poverty (b =.80, p <.001), compared to those experiencing intermittent and persistent poverty. Mother-child closeness did not mediate the relationship between material hardship and parenting aggravation across all groups.

Conclusions and Implications: For families experiencing persistent poverty, poverty reduction should be prioritized. Even if families do not meet standard poverty thresholds, they may be near the poverty line or experience significant material hardship, and financial support is also important for this group. Parenting resources and psychoeducation to reduce parenting stress should be delivered to families experiencing intermittent and persistent poverty.