Are Poor Parents Poor Parents? The Relationship between Poverty and Parenting among Mothers in the UK

Abstract

Low-income parents have long been demonised in both political discourses and mainstream media, portrayed as lacking in parenting skills not just financial resources. Using the Millennium Cohort Study (MCS) this article examines to what extent there are differences in the parenting of low-income mothers by examining parenting behaviours of low-, middle- and high-income mothers. The findings show that where there are negative differences in the parenting of low-income mothers these are often part of a broader income gradient that extends all the way up the distribution, rather than unique to low-income mothers. Furthermore, there are some positive differences in parenting among low-income mothers compared to middle-income mothers. These findings have important implications: low-income parents are not an unusual or deviant group parenting differently to everyone else. The findings suggest more attention ought to be given to parenting differences higher up the income distribution. In focusing on low-income parents only, existing evidence exaggerates differences and wrongly identifies low-income parents as problematic.

Estimating effects of parents’ cognitive and non-cognitive skills on offspring education using polygenic scores

“…Indirect effects of parents' genetic endowment for non-cognitive skills on child education might be mediated or moderated by parents' income and cultural capital (including school-related skills and habits). While some evidence suggests that home learning environments may be more cognitively stimulating in families of higher socioeconomic 71,72 , there is also evidence suggesting that mothers who have lower reported incomes also report more frequent activities that facilitate cognitive stimulation 73 .…”

Estimating effects of parents’ cognitive and non-cognitive skills on offspring education using polygenic scores

“…Indirect effects of parents' genetic endowment for non-cognitive skills on child education might be mediated or moderated by parents' income and cultural capital (including school-related skills and habits). While the home learning environment has been found to be more stimulating in higher socioeconomic status families 42,43 , there is recent evidence that low-income mothers report more frequent activities that facilitate cognitive stimulation 44 .…”

Head start parents' vocational preparedness indirectly predicts preschoolers' physical and relational aggression

“…The evidence here suggests that one way to intervene would be to remove some of the barriers to parental mental health and overall well‐being for impoverished parents, perhaps by investing in parents' vocational and occupational positions. For instance, impoverished parents are often criticized for factors related to their status of living in poverty (Cooper, 2020; Russell et al, 2008). Impoverished parents are labeled as “bad” parents (Cooper, 2020), a label they then accept and internalize, which severely impacts their self‐efficacy as parents and overall well‐being (Russell et al, 2008).…”

“…For instance, impoverished parents are often criticized for factors related to their status of living in poverty (Cooper, 2020; Russell et al, 2008). Impoverished parents are labeled as “bad” parents (Cooper, 2020), a label they then accept and internalize, which severely impacts their self‐efficacy as parents and overall well‐being (Russell et al, 2008). To this end, effective policy and research implications of the study would be to work to destigmatize the status of poverty, and to leverage the sensitive responsiveness and strengths of families in poverty (Frankenhuis & Nettle, 2020).…”