Material Hardship and Child Maltreatment

Background and Purpose: Children in socioeconomically disadvantaged families face elevated risk for maltreatment. Inability to meet basic needs can interfere with positive, healthy parenting. Low-income children are overrepresented in the child welfare system, but little is known about how specific types of material hardship are linked with maltreatment risk for these families. The present study aimed to identify subtypes of hardship for mothers in the postpartum year, as well as whether hardship subtypes predicted physical and psychological maltreatment of children.

Methods: Data for the present study came from the Future of Families (formerly Fragile Families) and Child Well-Being Study (FFCW). FFCW is a longitudinal survey that followed a cohort of families with children born 1998-2000 in 20 large American cities. The analytic sample for the present study was limited to mothers who retained at least partial custody of children at the 1- and 3-year follow-up waves, when children were approximately one and three years old (N = 3,966). Missing data were handled using multiple imputation by chained equations (MICE) with predictive mean matching. Latent class analysis identified subtypes of material hardship using eight indicator variables about whether families had had various experiences including child hunger, mother hunger, inability to afford a doctor, missed rent payment, utility shutoff, doubling up, eviction, and homelessness at Year 1. Mean scores for physical and psychological aggression were estimated across classes to determine whether distinct hardship experiences were associated with disparate risk for maltreatment at Year 3.

Results: LCA identified distinct hardship subtypes. Mothers in the “Stable” class were generally able to manage their household expenses without making significant tradeoffs. The second class, “Cost-Burdened,” was primarily characterized by difficulty affording paying bills; mothers in this class displayed a 78% probability of missing a rent or mortgage payment, a one in five (21.5%) probability of not being able to afford a doctor visit, and a nearly one in three (31%) probability of having utilities shut off for missed payments. The third class, “Severely Housing Insecure,” was characterized by high probabilities of doubling up (92.9%), eviction (34.7%) and homelessness (28.2%). The fourth and smallest class, “Housing Insecure with Hunger,” was primarily characterized by high probabilities of both child (33.9%) and mother (100%) hunger. This class experienced the second most severe housing insecurity, but levels of doubling up, eviction, and homelessness were significantly lower than the “Severely Housing Insecure” class. Being “Severely Housing Insecure” was associated with significantly higher levels of both physical assault and psychological aggression compared to “Stable.” Being “Cost-Burdened” was associated with significantly higher psychological aggression compared to “Stable.”

Conclusions and Implications. Severe housing insecurity and financial strain in the postpartum year increase risk for both physical and psychological maltreatment of children. Inability to afford safe, stable, affordable housing is uniquely harmful for families with young children. Screening for housing problems, connection to housing service, and parenting supports for families struggling to meet basic needs may mitigate risk for maltreatment. Increased affordable housing and expansion of housing assistance programs may help keep children safe.