essay about family stability

Family Stability: 12 Reasons Why Children NEED Stability, PLUS 8 Ways To Promote Stability

Did you know that children need stability in order to thrive? It’s true! In fact, family stability is one of the most important factors in a child’s life. In this blog post, we will discuss the importance of family stability and how it can benefit children and parents alike!

Family stability can be defined as a family’s ability to maintain a healthy, consistent, and functioning home environment. This includes factors such as consistent parenting, financial security, and a safe and stable home life. Children need stability in order to feel safe and secure, which makes them more likely to do well in school, have healthier relationships, and be overall more successful in life.

Family stability can come from many different places such as a stable home life, a stable school, and even a stable community. There are also, many things that can cause instability in a family, such as divorce, changes in routine, or employment changes. Either way, it is essential for children to have a stable home life. To learn more about how family stability affects your child’s development and the well being of the entire family, continue reading, as we’ll discuss exactly what family stability is, and 12 reasons why family stability is so important!

What Is Family Stability

Family stability is when a family is able to maintain a certain level of consistency in their lives. This can be seen in many different areas, such as the financial, emotional, and physical well-being of the family. Family stability is often thought of as being important for the development and well-being of children.

When a family is stable, it provides a consistent and supportive environment for children to grow and develop. Family stability is also important for the mental and emotional health of all family members. A stable family life can help to reduce stress levels and provide a sense of security and belonging.

In a stable home, family members can rely on each other for emotional and material supported. Family members feel secure in their relationships to weather life’s challenges together. For many families, stability is an important goal to strive for. The predictability and routine that comes from family stability, can often provide a sense of security and safety in an otherwise uncertain world.

12 Reasons Why Family Stability Is Important

Children need a stable and secure environment in order to feel safe. When children feel safe, they are able to explore their world and learn about new things. A stable home life provides children with the foundation they need to feel secure and build healthy relationships.

Family stability promotes academic success. When children have a stable home life, they are more likely to do well in school. This is because they feel supported and have the security they need to succeed.

A stable home life helps children develop positive social skills. When children have stability in their lives, they are more likely to develop positive social skills. This is because they feel secure and have the opportunity to interact with others in a positive way.

Family stability leads to healthier relationships. When children have a stable home life, they are more likely to develop healthy relationships. This is because they feel secure and have the opportunity to interact with others in a positive way.

A stable home life helps children develop a sense of self-worth. When children have stability in their lives, they are more likely to develop a strong sense of self-worth. This is because they feel supported and valued.

Family stability provides children with the security they need to thrive. When children have a stable home life, they feel secure and are more likely to thrive. This is because they have the foundation they need to succeed.

A stable home life helps children develop positive coping skills. When children have stability in their lives, they are more likely to develop positive coping skills. This is because they feel supported and have the opportunity to learn how to cope with stress in a healthy way.

Family stability helps children develop resiliency. When children have a stable home life, they are more likely to develop resiliency. This is because they feel supported and have the opportunity to learn how to bounce back from setbacks.

A stable home life helps children develop a positive outlook on life. When children have stability in their lives, they are more likely to develop a positive outlook on life. This is because they feel supported and have the opportunity to see the world in a positive light.

Family stability helps children develop empathy. When children have a stable home life, they are more likely to develop empathy. This is because they feel supported and have the opportunity to interact with others in a positive way.

Family stability helps children develop self-control. When children have a stable home life, they are more likely to develop self-control. This is because they feel supported and have the opportunity to learn how to control their emotions and impulses.

How Does Family Stability Affect Children

Family stability has a positive effect on children. When children have stability in their lives, they feel secure and are more likely to thrive. They know what to expect from their caregivers and have the foundation they need to succeed. This helps children to feel safe and secure, which is essential for their development.

On the other hand, when families are unstable, children can feel insecure and uncertain. They may not know where they will be each day, who will be taking care of them, or what their day will consist of, and this can lead to feelings of anxiety and insecurity. This can negatively impact their development and ability to build healthy relationships, or develop positive coping skills.

How Can You Provide a Stable Home For Your Family?

If you are looking to provide your children with the stability they need to thrive, there are a few things you can do. This includes making sure you are providing consistent parenting; being there for your children emotionally and physically; creating a financial plan that will allow you to provide for your family long-term; and making sure you are taking care of yourself. When you are happy and healthy, your children will benefit.

8 Things You Can Do to Promote Family Stability

There are many things you can do to promote family stability. Some of these things include:

• Providing a safe and healthy home for your children
• Supporting your children academically
• Helping your children develop positive social skills
• Encouraging your children to be active and involved in their community
• Promoting and displaying positive relationships within the family
• Supporting your children emotionally
• Helping your children develop positive coping skills
• Encouraging your children to be themselves

Final Remarks

Family stability is important for children. It helps them to feel secure, supported, and provides them with the foundation they need to succeed. There are many things you can do to promote family stability, and it is important to remember that when you are happy and healthy, your children will benefit. Thank you for taking the time to read this blog post. I hope it was informative and helpful.

If you have any questions or would like to share your own thoughts on this topic, please leave a comment below. I would love to hear from you.

Interested in learning more about family planning and parenting? Be sure to checkout our parenting blog library for some helpful information and resources!

Recommend Further Readings

The Attachment Theory Workbook: Powerful Tools to Promote Understanding, Increase Stability, and Build Lasting Relationships

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Well-Being and Stability among Low-income Families: A 10-Year Review of Research

• Published: 25 October 2020
• Volume 42 , pages 107–117, ( 2021 )

Cite this article

• Yoshie Sano   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-1741-2736 1 ,
• Sheila Mammen 2 &
• Myah Houghten 3  

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A Correction to this article was published on 28 December 2020

This article has been updated

Scholarship on families in poverty, in the last decade, documented various struggles and challenges faced by low-income families and expanded our understanding of their complicated life circumstances embedded within the contexts of community, culture, and policies. The research articles published in the Journal of Family and Economic Issues during this time, that highlighted poverty, focused primarily on three topic areas: economic security, family life issues, and food security. Overall, findings conclude that family well-being and stability cannot be promoted without the consideration of environmental factors. They depend on the interaction among individual (e.g., increased human capital), family (e.g., positive co-parental relationship), community (e.g., affordable childcare), and policy changes (e.g., realistic welfare-to-work programs). Collectively, the articles have provided a road map for future research directions.

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Introduction

Family well-being, essential to the smooth functioning of communities and societies, is hindered when there is high incidence of poverty. Poverty rate in the US hovered around 14% prior to the enactment of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PROWRA) of 1996 (U.S. Census 2019a ). Following welfare reform, the poverty rate started to decline (to a low of 11.3% in 2000) (U.S. Census 2019a ), although scholars have questioned if PROWRA is the cause of this decline. Uncertainties in the economy, including the 2008 Great Recession, caused the poverty rate to climb again and remain at around 15% until 2014. With the fading effects of the recession, the US poverty rate was at 11.8% in early 2020, right before the current Coronavirus pandemic. One group that is most vulnerable to poverty, however, are female-headed households, who consistently comprise 50% of all households living in poverty. Other vulnerable groups include non-Whites [poverty rate in 2018, Blacks: 22%; Hispanics: 19%; Native Americans: 24%] (Kaiser Family Foundation 2020 ); rural communities [poverty rate in 2018, non-metro: 16%; metro: 13%] (Economic Research Service 2020 ); and children [poverty rate in 2018, 16%; i.e. 1 in every 6 children] (US Census 2019b ).

Family well-being is a multidimensional concept that refers to a family’s subjective sense of overall welfare, taking into account the physical and emotional health of family members as well as their interconnectedness, which in turn results in family stability (a sense of consistency, predictability, and continuity). There are many components that contribute to the well-being of families such as income sufficiency, food security, stable family environment, mental and physical health security, safe housing and communities, employment opportunities, and adequate transportation. These components, taken as a whole, provide the necessary foundation for the well-being of families. For low-income families, in particular, the lack of some or all of these dimensions can be severely detrimental to their well-being since this could lead to poverty. Such a direct link between lack of well-being and poverty can ultimately lead to family instability.

In this paper, we will review select research findings of the past decade published in the Journal of Family and Economic Issues from 2010 to 2019 that have increased our understanding of low-income families living in poverty. Each study employed a unique approach to its particular topic. Some studies utilized large secondary datasets including both metropolitan and non-metropolitan residents while others collected their own data from a smaller sample generated by non-probability sampling. However, all studies focused on low-income families in the United States with the exception of one study that examined poverty-related social policy in Columbia. The 29 papers, Footnote 1 while highly diverse, all illustrated the strengths and challenges faced by individuals and families living with limited resources.

Our review was carried out in multiple stages. First, each author independently reviewed the 29 articles, and then the authors qualitatively compared and contrasted the main themes that emerged from these articles. In the last step, the authors identified three specific dimensions of well-being Footnote 2 : economic security, family life, and food security. Our objective was not to provide a comprehensive summary of all poverty-related issues addressed in these articles but, rather, to synthesize the research findings along these three dimensions to see how they have contributed to the current knowledge base regarding low-income families and to provide a path for future research in order to improve family well-being and stability.

Families in Poverty: Decade in Review

Economic security among low-income families.

In the last decade, research on the economic security of low-income families has centered around poverty dynamics, the effectiveness of welfare-to-work programs, employment issues, the Earned Income Tax Credit, and banking behavior.

Poverty Dynamics

Mammen et al. ( 2015 ) developed the Economic Well-Being Continuum (EWC) as a comprehensive measure to describe the circumstances of low-income families in eight specific dimensions (child care, employability, food security, health care security, housing security, transportation, reliance of assistance programs, and capabilities) and establish their level of economic functioning (persistently poor, struggling, and getting by). When certain life circumstances and trigger events experienced by low-income mothers, which contributed to their entry into and exit from poverty, were examined with the EWC, the authors found that family health issues and changes in mothers’ intimate relationships acted as significant trigger events that established or altered the economic functioning of the families. We believe that what mitigated families’ hardships was their support networks. Prawitz et al. ( 2013 ) reported on the centrality of locus of control among low-income individuals who expressed less financial distress and more hopefulness when locus of control was more internal to them. When low-income individuals were able to make financial adjustments, however, they had more financial distress, accompanied with more hopefulness, possibly implying that while the current situation may be bleak, their adaptive responses may have fostered hopefulness that things would improve.

Effectiveness of Welfare-to-Work Programs Among Low-Income Families

One of the goals of PRWORA was to enable recipients of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) to exit the program and enter the job market. The transition from welfare to work, however, was not as effective when low-income individuals were trained only through labor force attachment (LFA) programs. Kim ( 2010 , 2012 ) found that former TANF recipients were more likely to obtain employment when LFA programs were combined with human capital development (HCD) programs as participation in HCD programs were related to longer employment durations and lower probability of TANF re-entry.

Participants in Welfare-to-Work programs, who succeeded leaving assistance and obtaining employment, disclosed low wages; informal labor market activity; notable levels of unmet needs; and continued government, community, and social support use (Livermore et al. 2011 ). Those with higher earnings and regular nonmonetary help from family and friends were likely to have more needs met; those who had fewer needs met reported lower wages, had more young children, used government support programs (including childcare subsidies), and engaged in informal labor market activity (Davis et al. 2018 ; Grobe et al. 2017 ; Livermore et al. 2011 ).

Employment Issues

An important way to exit poverty and attain economic security is through employment. Unfortunately, many low-income mothers, especially rural low-income mothers, face daunting challenges to remain employed. Son and Bauer ( 2010 ) reported that mothers who were able to remain in the same job did so because they utilized their limited resources and developed strategies to combine work and family life. These strategies included utilizing social support network for childcare and other household activities as well as relying, where possible, on flexibility at work such as non-standard work hours and supportive supervisors.

One way that low-income mothers were more likely to be employed, and especially employed full-time, was if they were provided state childcare subsidy (Davis et al. 2018 ) and the receipt of childcare subsidy was tied to their employment (Grobe et al. 2017 ). High level of job instability (job loss, major reduction in work hours), however, created a greater likelihood of losing the childcare subsidy. While job changes per se was not related to loss of childcare subsidy, parents required the subsidy to remain employed.

The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)

The EITC program, initiated in 1975, is the largest federal assistance program targeted towards working poor families in order to supplement their household wages and to offset their Social Security taxes (Mammen et al. 2011 ). Despite the many benefits of the EITC, a substantial portion of working families, especially in rural communities, do not participate in the program. Mammen et al. ( 2011 ) found that, among rural low-income women, the EITC non-participants were more likely to be Hispanic, be less educated, have larger families, perceive their income as being inadequate, live in more rural counties, and possess little understanding of the EITC. Participating rural working mothers, on the other hand, were more likely to be single, food secure, and satisfied with life.

One important element of the EITC program is the frequency with which the tax credit payments are received by the working families: lumpsum, periodic, or monthly. Kramer et al. ( 2019 ) reported that periodic EITC payment recipients experienced significantly lower levels of perceived financial stress. This relationship was partly mediated by less need to borrow money, lower levels of food insecurity, and fewer unpaid bills. Therefore, periodic EITC payments may enhance the positive association between the EITC and financial well-being of families.

Banking Behavior of Low-Income Families

Having a bank account is more likely to enable low-income families to build assets and to offset unexpected financial expenditures. According to the Federal Deposit Insurance Commission (FDIC), among households with incomes less than $30,000, 38% of them were unbanked in 2017 (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation 2018 ). Grinstein-Weiss et al. ( 2010 ) found that low-income households who did not have a bank account (unbanked) were more likely to be younger, Black, unpartnered, have more children, and have less income. They were also less likely to have attended college and less likely to be employed full-time. Banked participants, however, were more likely to have better saving performance in Individual Development Accounts (IDA) Footnote 3 programs and lower risks of dropping out the IDA programs. According to Rao and Malapit ( 2015 ), for female-headed households, having an additional child increased their likelihood to be underbanked or unbanked. Such financial behavior is more prevalent among female-headed households compared to couples or male-headed households, likely due to the opportunity cost of time for women and the intimidation they feel, perhaps, based on their lack of banking sophistication.

Family Life Issues

Family is where individuals seek rest and support, take nutrition, promote good health and, perhaps, most importantly, raise the next generation. In this section we will discuss findings from the last decade on work-family balance, parenting dynamics, and child well-being and poverty.

Work and Family Life

Many rural low-income families face daunting challenges to balance work and family life. Katras et al. ( 2015 ) found low-income families were able to juggle the demands of work and family life if they had access to resources such as informal social support, could manage both work and family time, and were in jobs that supported work and family life. Difficulties regarding availability of resources or inflexibility in employment created problems in work and family life balance (Katras et al. 2015 ). As mentioned previously, low-income mothers relied on informal support for childcare and household tasks. They also depended on sympathetic supervisors who provided flexible work hours (Son and Bauer 2010 ).

Work-family life balance that working mothers try to achieve can be easily sabotaged by housing instability. Kull et al. ( 2016 ) reported that higher residential mobility was associated with changes in employment status and relationships, experiences of intimate partner violence, as well as private-market rentals, substandard housing, and bad neighborhoods.

Parenting Dynamics

In their study of unmarried couples who coparented children, Jamison et al. ( 2017 ) documented that the difficulties of living in poverty, combined with the demands of parenting young children, can create stress and chaos. Parents who were successful in coparenting were those who were able to manage their limited resources well. Jamison et al. concluded that the best way of assisting low-income couples manage day-to-day stress is by providing them with adequate resources as well as information on how to use these resources effectively.

Traditionally, poverty research has focused on low-income mothers. Myers ( 2013 ), however, studied how low-income fathers defined responsible fatherhood. Previous findings on middle-class fathers have emphasized the importance of breadwinning and childcare rearing roles (Schoppe-Sullivan and Fagon 2020 ). Low-income fathers, who did not provide finances or primary care, on the other hand, did not consider responsible fatherhood to include provision for either of these two functions. Instead they defined responsible fatherhood as spending time in non-caregiving activities, voluntarily distancing themselves from a child when it is in the child’s interest to do so, acknowledging paternity in non-legal settings, spending money on presents, engaging in fun activities, attending to special needs, keeping abreast of what is going on in the child’s home, and ensuring that they are not absent from the child’s life (Myers 2013 ).

Child Well-Being and Poverty

The association between poverty and negative child outcomes has been well-established. Children growing up in poverty are more likely to experience negative health outcomes, poor academic performance, higher dropout rates, and behavioral issues compared to children in middle- and upper-income households (Brooks-Gunn and Duncan 1997 ). Focusing on three economic indicators (income, material hardship, and non-liquid assets), Kainz et al. ( 2012 ) found an association among them and variations in 36-month old children’s social and cognitive development. Poverty status, measured by income-to-needs ratio, was related to lower cognitive skills while the presence of non-liquid assets was associated with higher cognitive skills. Greater material hardship was correlated with more social problems for these children.

Investing in children’s education produces positive child outcomes (Chaudry and Wimer 2016 ). Child subsidy programs expand childcare options for low-income parents. De Marco and Vernon-Feagans ( 2015 ) found that parents who received child subsidies tended to choose center-based care. They concluded that childcare, regardless of type, was of higher quality when these families received child subsidies. Okech ( 2011 ), whose focus was on parents’ decision to enroll in preschool children’s college education accounts, found that decisions were influenced by parental education level as well as parents’ participation in information sessions about the account.

Another indicator of child well-being is good health. According to Valluri et al. ( 2015 ), low-income mothers chose healthcare visits for themselves and their child simultaneously. Pediatric visits increased with new medical conditions and greater number of chronic conditions among children, and maternal healthcare use increased with higher maternal depression scores, chronic conditions, new medical conditions, more children, more pediatric visits, prenatal/post-partum needs, and having health insurance coverage. Maternal health visits, on the other hand, decreased with maternal depression, pregnancy, being Latina or Black, having more children, and if mothers were covered through private health insurance.

Food Insecurity

Consumption of nutritious food is necessary for a healthy, productive life for both adults and children. Having enough food at home contributes to an enhanced sense of family well-being. In this section, we will discuss findings related to the measurement of food insecurity, factors influencing food insecurity, and food-related assistance programs.

Measurement of Food Insecurity

Balistreri ( 2016 ) argued that the commonly used measure of food security (18-item U.S. Household Food Security Survey) only captures the prevalence of food insecurity, not its depth or severity. He has, instead, proposed the Food Insecurity Index (FII) to assess the degree of food insecurity. Using the FII, Balistreri found that low-income households without children experienced the most rapid increases in the depth and severity of food insecurity since the 2008 Great Recession until 2018. Although White non-Hispanic households, with or without children, had lower food insecurity prevalence rates, they experienced steeper increases in both depth and severity throughout the last decade. Finally, Black non-Hispanic households, with and without children, were most likely to suffer food insecurity.

Factors Leading to Food Insecurity

Guo ( 2011 ) documented that, regardless of socio-economic status, family food security is related to household assets. This is because the interaction between household assets and income loss buffered changes in food consumption patterns. Further, regardless of household income level, the risk of food insecurity increased, when faced with liquidity constraint and asset inadequacy (Chang et al. 2014 ). This relationship was strongest among low-income families. Financial constraint was found to be an exogenous factor in the determination of food insecurity. Food insecurity also resulted partly from the interaction between unstable income and nonstandard work schedules (multiple jobs, part-time, varied hours). While this association differed across household types, it was most pronounced in male- and female-headed households, and weakest among married couples (Coleman-Jensen 2011 ). The above findings, taken together, implies that food insecurity should be considered in the broader context of asset building and work environment.

The food security of Latino immigrant families in rural communities was influenced by multiple ecological layers. This included family characteristics (higher literacy and life skills), community conditions (state of the local economy, embrace of diversity, affordable housing, and access to health care), cultural values (familism), as well as federal immigration policy (Sano et al. 2011 ). The rapidly expanding growth among Latino families in rural areas of the US requires that attention be paid to the food security needs of this mostly vulnerable population (Hanson 2016 ). In rural Colombia, conditional cash transfers (CCT) increased the perception of food insecurity and subjective poverty among marginalized families (Morales-Martínez and Gori-Maia 2018 ). The conditionalities (families’ commitment to education, good health, and proper nutrition) imposed on the beneficiary families reduced their dissatisfaction with health and education.

Food-Related Assistance Programs

In 2005 and 2010, metro and non-metro households had relatively similar levels of food insecurity. Yet, Nielsen et al. ( 2018 ) reported that a higher proportion of non-metro households received government food assistance (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program [SNAP], Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children [WIC], free and/or reduced school meals, and related local and/or federal programs) compared to metro households. After the Great Recession, when government resources were expanded, this assistance gap widened even further. Nonetheless, according to Chang et al. ( 2015 ), participation in SNAP and WIC programs increased fruit and vegetable consumption significantly among disadvantaged families. Other factors such as exercise habits, family support, and willingness to adopt a healthy lifestyle played a bigger role in increasing consumption of fruits and vegetables. For some families, however, nutrition knowledge seemed to decrease actual intake of the same.

In a study that identified nonfood needs of low-income households who patronized food pantries, Fiese et al. ( 2014 ) classified product needs into three categories: products for survival (water, food, medicine), products to keep the household together (soap, toilet paper, hygiene products), and products to “make do” (paper plates, dish soap, household cleaning supplies). When households went without these products, it resulted in stress, personal degradation, and in illegal activities.

Overall Summary of Findings

The research findings from JFEI articles presented above have identified multiple challenges and have suggested future research directions to improve the well-being and stability of vulnerable families. Taken together, the findings imply that family economic functioning depends on the interaction among individual, family, and contextual factors (e.g., social network, culture, policies). Additionally, emphasizing employment alone, without consideration of factors such as childcare (availability, accessibility, affordability) or jobs (availability, flexibility), is not adequate to successfully enable welfare recipients to exit the program. Governmental and institutional support also play an important role in the economic security of low-income families, such as participation in the EITC, for those who are eligible, and in the banking sector.

In order to balance work and family life, which would contribute to family well-being, working poor mothers require informal social support, especially for childcare and household tasks. In addition to effective resource management skills, it is important for low-income mothers to have a reliable co-parent who is more likely to decrease day-to-day stress and chaos in the household. Even those low-income fathers, unable to provide finances and primary care, may provide support in non-traditional ways, thereby, contributing to family stability. Utilizing available resources such as childcare subsidies, college savings programs, or local financial institutions enhance child well-being.

Food security is another important aspect of family well-being. New measures combined with traditional approaches should be used to capture the true extent of the depth and severity of food insecurity. Multidimensional in nature, food insecurity is impacted, not only by income, but also by household assets, food management knowledge and skills, cultural values, community resources, as well as federal policies. This is particularly true for racial/ethnic minorities and rural immigrant families.

Future Research Directions

The 29 articles from the Journal of Family and Economic Issues, that are reviewed here, suggest strategies for improved family well-being and increased stability. These strategies incorporate the true needs of low-income families with a variety of support systems at the individual (e.g., increase human capital), family (e.g., positive co-parental relationship), community (e.g., affordable childcare), and policy (e.g., realistic welfare-to-work programs) levels. The findings of these studies have provided a road map for future research directions. In this section, we will present a general direction for future research; detailed research recommendations, tied to specific findings, can be found in Table 1 (Economic Security), Table  2 (Family Life Issues), and Table  3 (Food Security).

Future research should examine life circumstances and trigger events that may affect changes in families’ economic functioning including the size and duration of its impact. Recent examples of trigger events that could cause a cascading effect on low-income families include natural disasters, the opioid crisis, technological displacement of jobs, and the novel Coronavirus pandemic. Research should also look at how such events may be mitigated in vulnerable families by individuals’ agencies such as internal locus of control, hopefulness, and financial literacy. The evaluation of current welfare programs and policies strongly suggest that future research must explore the impact of variations of state welfare policies including work requirements, strategies to incentivize employers to provide flexible work policies, and community-based support systems for parents of young children. Scholars should also explore low-income families’ attitudes, knowledge, and decision-making processes in the area of finances including their reluctance to participate in the banking sector and, for those who qualify, in the EITC program. At the same time, scholars should also not neglect to identify disincentives created by financial institutions that stand in the way of families participating in the banking system.

Previous research has established that work-family balance is vital for low-income mothers to obtain and maintain their employment in order to promote family well-being. Future research should focus on strategies to incentivize employers to provide flexible work policies and to establish community-based support systems. This current pandemic has created a loss of employment opportunities and loss of income especially for low-income working families; future research should, therefore, evaluate the meaning of work flexibility to include off-site work and job sharing.

Positive child development is embedded in family and social contexts. To prevent generational poverty, future lines of inquiry should go beyond mothers’ perspectives alone to include multiple voices of other family members such as co-parents (especially fathers), older and step-children, and grandparents. Additionally, research should focus on the impact of parental decisions regarding childcare enrollment and healthcare visits on the long-term outcome of children. Finally, the association between receipt of governmental assistance and the stigma experienced by low-income families, particularly among rural families, would be another important area of study.

Future research must investigate the role of economic volatility, market conditions, and policy changes in understanding the relationship between family finances and employment of low-income families and food insecurity. For poor immigrant families, the effect of documentation status and immigration policy changes on food insecurity cannot be understated and, to capture the nuances of their food needs, qualitative and mixed-methods studies would be preferred. Future studies should also incorporate geographical information to identify reasons why urban–rural disparity occurs among food insecure families when attempting to access food and possible strategies that would enable food-insecure metro families to access food. It is equally important to assess family income and food budgeting on families’ dietary habits as well as parental modeling and family food environment on healthy food behavior.

Change history

28 december 2020.

A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10834-020-09746-0

The 29 articles reviewed in this paper were assigned by the special editor of this issue of the Journal of Family and Economic Issues. More information is in the introduction to the special issue.

Other dimensions of family well-being are being reviewed by other authors in this special issue. A topic of “health” was covered by Chaudhuri and “health and family” issues were covered by Tamborini.

An individual development account (IDA) is an asset building program designed to enable low-income families to connect to the financial mainstream by saving towards a targeted amount usually used for building assets.

Balistreri, K. S. (2016). A decade of change: Measuring the extent, depth and severity of food insecurity. Journal of Family and Economic Issues, 37 (3), 373–382. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10834-016-9500-9 .

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Sano, Y., Mammen, S. & Houghten, M. Well-Being and Stability among Low-income Families: A 10-Year Review of Research. J Fam Econ Iss 42 (Suppl 1), 107–117 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10834-020-09715-7

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February 28, 2022

Children first: why family structure and stability matter for children.

• Having married parents typically means that children live in families with more resources, including more time with their parents, and with greater stability. Tweet This
• There are roles for both policy and civil society in promoting and supporting marriage. Tweet This
• Study after study shows a strong correlation between marriage and a wide array of positive outcomes, and also shows that the benefits of marriage are larger than would be predicted by economic factors alone. Tweet This

Editor’s Note :  What follows is a chapter from  Rebalancing: Children First , a new report  from the AEI-Brookings Working Group on Childhood in the United States.

Our working group agrees that the research evidence indicates that, on average, children who have (a) two parents who are committed to one another, (b) a stable home life, (c) more economic resources, and (d) the advantage of being intended or welcomed by their parents are more likely to flourish. In general, we believe that evidence suggests that marriage is the best path to the favorable outcomes highlighted above. Marriage is of course not the only path that allows children to succeed; many children raised by single parents and cohabiting parents thrive in life. Even so, in the United States marriage continues to be the institution most likely to combine the four benefits outlined above for the sake of children.

Marriage matters to children. Having married parents typically means that children live in families with more resources, including more time with their parents, and with greater stability. While these factors in themselves point to a range of improved outcomes for children, the benefits of growing up in a family with married parents is more than a sum of these parts. Yet a long, steady decline in marriage rates over the past five decades means that more children are growing up in single-parent families. Today about one in four children ages 0–12 does not have married parents. While the decline in marriage has occurred across all demographics, more than one in three children whose mother has an education level of less than a college degree does not have married parents. 1

Of course, marriage does not guarantee an environment in which children get what they most need—a secure and stable environment with engaged and nurturing caregivers. But, in our review of the evidence, the working group concludes that marriage offers the most reliable way to promote these ends. We underline that the differences in outcomes we have been discussing are primarily the rates at which children experience adversities; most children from single, step, and cohabiting families do well or average on most outcomes (D’Onofrio and Emery 2019; Eggebeen and Licher 1991; Hetherington and Kelly 2002). In other words, many children from nonintact families thrive.

There are roles for both policy and civil society in promoting and supporting marriage, including targeted reductions of marriage tax penalties, improved economic opportunities that will in turn promote marriage, and communication of clear public messages about the importance of marriage for children.

Family Structure and Stability in the U.S. Context

Over the past half century, marriage has become less likely to anchor the lives of American families, leaving more and more children to experience family instability and single parenthood. As shown in figure 2.1, the percentage of children (ages 12 and under) living in households with married parents (with spouse present) declined from 83 percent in the mid-1970s to 71 percent in 2019. This decline in children living with two parents was accompanied by a steady increase in the percentage of children living with only their mother. This trend was entirely driven by a rise in the share of children living with never-married mothers, which increased from 3 percent in 1976 to 18 percent in 2019. The share of children living with divorced mothers held relatively steady over this period at 6 percent (Cherlin 2009; Cohen 2019).

Changes in family life have not affected all children equally. Children with less-educated parents and Black and Hispanic children have been disproportionately affected. Over the past 40 years nonmarital childbearing rose the most for families in these two groups (Cherlin 2009; Wilcox and Marquardt 2010). As shown in figure 2.1, two-thirds of children ages 12 and younger with mothers with less than a college degree had married parents in 2019, down from more than 80 percent in 1976. The decline in marriage has been much less steep for college-educated mothers, dropping from 93 percent in 1976 to about 90 percent in 2019. Among mothers with a college degree, 14 percent of the decline in marriage rates is explained by an increase in divorce, 75 percent is explained by an increase in never-married mothers, and the remainder is explained by an increase in the small share of mothers that are separated or widowed.

Today, when it comes to both socioeconomic status and race, American family life is deeply unequal (figure 2.2). Much of the difference across racial and ethnic groups likely reflects group differences in economic conditions, including differences in wages and employment opportunities (Sawhill 2013), differences in wealth including home ownership rates (Schneider 2011), as well as differences in educational attainment (figure 2.1). An increasing share of children across all groups lived with a never-married mother in 2018. In 2018 more Black children lived with never-married mothers than with married parents. Fewer than two in five Black children lived with married parents in 2018, compared with two in three Hispanic children and 82 percent of white children. After rising for most groups between 1976 and 2000, the proportion of children living with separated, divorced, or widowed parents in 2019 is about the same as it was in 1976: 6 percent of Hispanic children and 6 percent of white children, and 8 percent of Black children ages 12 and under.

Since the Great Recession, declines in marriage rates have halted—at least from the perspective of children. Divorce has fallen by more than 20 percent since the onset of the Great Recession, nearly returning to 1970 levels (Payne 2018). The share of children living with married parents has edged up by a percentage point since 2011, driven by a decline in the share living with divorced parents; in addition, nonmarital childbearing declined by a percentage point since 2009 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] 2019). Especially striking about this modest reversal is that it has been largest for Black and Hispanic children. In other words, in recent years the share of children in married-parent families is rising faster for Black and Hispanic children than it is for white children, though the gaps in levels remain large. So even though stark inequalities still exist, American families have become somewhat less unequal in the past decade.

E vidence That Family Structure and Stability Matter for Children

The family divide in America has many roots, but it has been largely driven by changes in our economy and in our culture that have made marriage less attainable and less required for poor and working-class Americans (Cherlin 2009; Ellwood and Jencks 2004; Wilcox, Wolfinger, and Stokes 2015; Wilson 1987). Nevertheless, this divide matters because children are, on average, more likely to thrive when they are raised in a stable, two-parent home. Compared to cohabitation, for instance, marriage in the United States is markedly more likely to bundle commitment, nonviolence, and stability (Kenney and McLanahan 2006; Musick and Michelmore 2018; Nock 1998; Wilcox and DeRose 2017). Figure 2.3, which displays the likelihood that children will see their parents break up before age 12 by parental education and marital status, shows a big gap between cohabiting and married parents (Wilcox and DeRose 2017). Other research indicates that children born to cohabiting couples who never marry are almost twice as likely to see their parents break up, compared to children whose parents are married, even after controlling for a range of confounding factors, such as parental education, race, and income (Musick and Michelmore 2018).

There are many reasons why children raised by married parents are more likely to flourish compared to children raised in single-parent families. For example, children in married-parent families have access to higher levels of income and assets, more involvement by fathers, better physical and mental health among both parents, more family stability, and many other factors (Ribar 2015). Most of these individual factors have been shown to have a positive impact on children’s well-being. David Ribar’s recent study of the impacts of marriage on children investigated the effects of these specific mechanisms. Even after accounting for these factors that are correlated with marriage, he finds that children with married parents have better outcomes. This means that, even given equal levels of parental attention, income, family stability, and other factors, children in married-parent families tend to end up better off than those living in other types of family arrangements. The advantages of being raised in a married-parent family appear to be more than the sum of the inputs. As Ribar concludes, “The advantages of marriage for children’s wellbeing are likely to be hard to replicate through policy interventions other than those that bolster marriage itself” (Ribar 2015, 11).

We will not attempt to summarize the voluminous literature on family structure and child well-being, but outcomes related to education, economic security, and health suggest links between stable families and children’s well-being. For example, children raised in stable, married-parent families are more likely to excel in school, and generally earn higher grade point averages (Harker 2007). The effects of family structure are even stronger for social and behavioral outcomes related to schooling, such as school suspensions, whether a school contacts parents about a child’s behavior, and whether a child drops out of high school (Autor et al. 2016; Kearney and Levine 2017; McLanahan and Sandefur 1994). Children who live in homes with married parents are more likely to attend and graduate from college (Kearney and Levine 2017; Lerman and Wilcox 2014). Research from Melissa Kearney and Phillip Levine indicates that the effects of marriage on high school and college completion are larger for children from less-educated homes than for children from homes with college-educated parents (Kearney and Levine 2017). In other words, children are more likely to acquire the human capital they need to later flourish in adulthood when they are raised in stable, married-parent families. We note that the effects of family structure vary by outcome, race, and financial status. Some of the effects of family structure are modest, such as on academic test scores; other effects of family structure seem larger, such as high school graduation rates (McLanahan, Tach, and Schneider 2013).

Because families that have two parents are more likely to have two earners, children in stable, married-parent families enjoy markedly higher income and lower risks of poverty and material deprivation (Lerman, Price, and Wilcox 2017). Figure 2.4 shows that children under age 12 living in single-parent homes are much more likely to be in poverty than children in married-parent families. Child poverty would be markedly reduced if the marriage rate was the same as it was in 1970 (Lerman 1996; Thomas and Sawhill 2005).

Obviously, much of the association between family structure and family income is about selection: married parents tend to be better educated and to be employed in better-paying jobs, even before they marry (Cherlin 2018). But part of the employment effect seems to be causal, as well. That is, marriage increases the odds that families have access to two earners, reduces the odds that households go through costly family transitions such as a divorce, engenders more support from kin, and fosters habits of financial prudence, including more savings (Eggebeen 2005; Lerman 2002).

The links between family structure and children’s economic well-being also extend over the life course. A recent study by Richard Reeves and Chris Pulliam found that upward economic mobility is much higher for the children of married parents. Among those who were in the bottom income quintile as children, four out of five who were raised by married parents throughout their childhood rose out of the bottom quintile when they reached adulthood. In contrast, those raised by a single parent throughout childhood had a 50 percent chance of remaining in the bottom income quintile (Reeves and Pulliam 2020). Another study, this one by Raj Chetty and coauthors, found sharp differences in upward mobility across geographic areas (Chetty et al. 2014); the strongest single predictor of rates of upward mobility in a particular area was the share of single-parent families. This factor was much more predictive than other measures tied to economic well-being, such as parents’ education levels, income, or race. To be sure, these studies report correlations and do not necessarily reflect the causal impact of marriage. But study after study shows a strong correlation between marriage and a wide array of positive outcomes, and also shows that the benefits of marriage are larger than would be predicted by economic factors alone.

Furthermore, regarding race, family structure can have a larger effect on some outcomes for white children than for Black children (Dunifon and Kowaleski-Jones 2002; Manning and Brown 2006). This differential impact across races and ethnicities may reflect greater support from kin or community organizations, such as churches, for Black and Hispanic children when they experience adversity related to family instability (Brown 2010; Putnam 2015). On the other hand, Black children are more likely to face other challenges, such as poverty, that compound disadvantages and increase the relative impact of family instability for them (Iceland 2019).

We also acknowledge that the quality of family life is crucial for the well-being of children, and not just the structure and stability of their family lives. Children do better when they receive high levels of affection, attention, and consistent discipline from their parents (Baumrind 2012). By contrast, children exposed to authoritarian and abusive parenting, or to high levels of conflict between their parents, are more likely to suffer, regardless of their family structure (Morrison and Coiro 1999). Indeed, the evidence suggests that parental separation is better for children in cases where high levels of conflict characterize a marriage (Amato and Booth 2000; Jekielek 1998). On the other hand, divorces involving children when there are low levels of conflict—perhaps one parent is depressed, the parents have grown apart, or one of the parents has had an affair—are more likely to make children worse off (Amato and Booth 2000).

Policy Priorities

After decades of decline, the share of children today being raised by married parents has stabilized and recently increased slightly. That’s the good news. The bad news is that a large share of children do not have married parents—especially those from lower-income backgrounds and Black and Hispanic children. To bridge this divide and to strengthen family environments for all children, we propose the following public policy and civic measures to strengthen and stabilize marriage and family life in the United States.

Reduce Marriage Penalties in Means-Tested Programs

Currently, means-tested programs such as Medicaid, the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) penalize low-income couples who choose to marry (Carasso and Steuerle 2005) including working-class Americans, with one study showing that more than 70 percent of American families with young children and incomes in the second and third income quintiles face marriage penalties related to Medicaid, cash welfare, or SNAP receipt (Wilcox, Gersten, and Regier 2020; Wilcox, Price, and Rachidi 2016). These penalties can reduce the odds that lower-income couples will marry; one survey found that almost one-third of Americans ages 18 to 60 report they personally know someone who has not married for fear of losing means-tested benefits (Wilcox, Gersten, and Regier 2020; Wilcox, Price, and Rachidi 2016). 

We recommend that Congress consider minimizing marriage penalties by (a) increasing thresholds for means-tested programs for married-parent families, especially those with young children; (b) experimenting with waivers that would allow state and local governments to try innovative approaches to reducing marriage penalties; or (c) passing a secondary earner deduction for low- to moderate-income families that would ease the financial impact of such penalties for two-earner families (Kearney and Turner 2013).

Strengthen Career and Technical Education and Apprenticeships

One reason marriage is fragile in many poor and working-class communities is that job stability and income are inadequate, especially for workers without a college degree. We acknowledge that better jobs and greater income are not a silver bullet. New research finds, for example, that better-paying jobs associated with fracking did not boost the share of children being raised in married-parent families (Kearney and Wilson 2018). But insofar as stable, decent-paying jobs remain a key ingredient for young adults considering marriage, steps should be taken to scale up vocational education and apprenticeship programs (Cass 2018; Lerman 2014; Sawhill 2018). We endorse recent initiatives to increase apprenticeships and shorter training programs. Congress should do more to expand access to apprenticeships and career and technical education and to support students in the completion of their degrees.

Encourage Young Adults to be Prepared before Having Children

Social marketing and relationship education on behalf of marriage could also prove helpful. Campaigns against smoking and teenage pregnancy have taught us that sustained efforts to change behavior can work. We would like to see a civic campaign organized around what Brookings Institution scholars Ron Haskins and Isabel Sawhill have called the success sequence, in which young adults are encouraged to pursue education, work, marriage, and parenthood, in that order (Haskins and Sawhill 2009; see also Wilcox and Wang 2017). Today, 97 percent of young adults who follow this sequence are not poor in midlife (Wilcox and Wang 2017). While the sequence has not been proven to exercise a casual role in adults’ economic lives, an extensive body of research indicates that each step—that is, education, work, and marriage—is associated with better economic outcomes for families with children (Lerman and Wilcox 2014; Wang and Wilcox 2020). 

A campaign organized around this sequence—with hopefully widespread support from educational, civic, media, pop cultural, and religious institutions—might meet with the same level of success as the recent campaign to prevent teen pregnancy, a campaign that helped drive down the teen pregnancy rate by more than 65 percent since the 1990s (CDC 2015, 2016, 2017; Kearney and Levine 2014). All aspects of society should encourage young adults to plan and be mentally, financially, and relationally prepared for parenthood before starting a family.

1. It is convention to refer to the characteristics of the mother when describing the attributes of parents. These analyses would not meaningfully differ if we were to refer to fathers.

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The importance of family stability to achieve….

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The family is recognized in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as "the natural and fundamental group unit of society" and is "entitled to protection by society and the State."

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Why stability is what matters in a family

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A lot of previous research has suggested that young people living in single-mother households are at an educational disadvantage. But our new study looking at the lives of 10,000 teenagers suggests that this is not true. A stable family, even if it is a lone-parent one, is the best place to grow up.

If you believe the headline writers, lone-mothers are feckless, benefit draining , irresponsible, teenagers . But of course they’re not. Even if you attempted to characterise “single mums” as one homogeneous group, as the media and politicians can’t avoid doing, you would fail miserably.

These families are often compared and contrasted to the so-called “traditional family”, held-up as some sort of gold standard of what constitutes a healthy and functioning family unit.

Families are fluid

But the “traditional family” is something of a post-war invention – and the idealism that surrounds it is seriously flawed. Families are complex and fluid units.

New research by Claudia Galindo and me in the British Educational Research Journal highlights the need to recognise that families are ever-changing. Seeing family structure as some sort of static entity is problematic. It’s important to collect evidence that can dispel myths about certain family structures, such as lone-mother households.

We were interested in how family structure is associated with educational outcomes. Between 2004 and 2007, we tracked the family structure and stability of 10,000 young people in the four years leading up to the end of compulsory education (between the ages of 13 and 16). We wanted to know if young people who had experienced a change in family structure were less likely to stay in education.

We were not concerned with the nature of the change – a divorce or separation, for example – but simply whether there had been a change. But we wanted to see if a young person living in a stable, lone-parent household, is really at an educational disadvantage.

What English families look like

Drawing on data from the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England we were able to examine the impact of a young person’s family stability and structure on whether or not they were likely to stay on in education.

The majority, or 55% of young people, lived in a stable, married biological family, with 5% living in a stable, married step-family between the ages of 13 and 16. About 20% of the young people lived in stable, lone-mother families, and 2% in stable lone-father families. Another 4% lived in stable, cohabiting families with parents who were not married – 2% of these were biological and 3% step parents.

Another 13% of young people had experienced some kind of instability to their family structure between the ages of 13 and 16 years of age. Of these, only 89% had only experienced one change during that time. The most common change in family structure was from a married family to a lone-mother family.

Instability pushes up drop-out

We found that young people who had experienced family instability were one third less likely to stay in education after 16-years-old. This was the case after accounting for background characteristics including income, changes in income, and prior achievement. Our results also indicated that young people in stable, lone-mother and lone-father families were just as likely to stay in education as those in stable, married households.

But lone-mother households are more likely to experience poverty. It is this that results in educational disadvantage – not necessarily the make-up of the family unit.

Separating out young people from cohabitating biological families from those in cohabitating step families was also enlightening. For example, for those young people who resided in a stable, cohabitating family that included a step parent, we found that they were significantly less likely to stay in school than their counterparts in cohabitating biological families.

In contrast, there were no discernible differences between those young people living with both biological parents who were married, and those who were living with both biological parents who were cohabitating and not married.

Communication is key

Young people who drop out of school tend to fade out gradually from the education system. So we concluded that there are plenty of opportunities for families and schools to implement preventative measures specially designed for young people who may be at risk of not continuing their education after the end of secondary school.

This article is published in collaboration with  The Conversation . Read the original article .

Publication does not imply endorsement of views by the World Economic Forum.

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Author: Gillian Hampden-Thompson is a Professor of Education at University of Sussex. 

Image: The shadow of a family is cast on the road as they walk along the deserted road while heading towards work. REUTERS/Navesh Chitrakar 

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Home — Essay Samples — Life — Family Relationship — The Importance of Family Experiences

The Importance of Family Experiences

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Published: Mar 20, 2024

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Essay on Importance of Family for Students and Children

500 words essay on importance of family.

In today’s world when everything is losing its meaning, we need to realize the importance of family more than ever. While the world is becoming more modern and advanced, the meaning of family and what stands for remains the same.

A family is a group of people who are related by blood or heritage. These people are linked not only by blood but also by compassion, love, and support. A person’s character and personality are shaped by his or her family. There are various forms of families in today’s society. It is further subdivided into a tight and extended family (nuclear family, single parent, step-family, grandparent, cousins, etc.)

Family – A synonym for trust, comfort, love, care, happiness and belonging. Family is the relationship that we share from the moment we are born into this world. People that take care of us and help us grow are what we call family, and they become lifelines for us to live. Family members have an important role in deciding an individual’s success or failure in life since they provide a support system and source of encouragement.

It does not matter what kind of family one belongs to. It is all equal as long as there are caring and acceptance. You may be from a joint family, same-sex partner family, nuclear family, it is all the same. The relationships we have with our members make our family strong. We all have unique relations with each family member. In addition to other things, a family is the strongest unit in one’s life.

Things That Strengthens The Family

A family is made strong through a number of factors. The most important one is of course love. You instantly think of unconditional love when you think of family. It is the first source of love you receive in your life It teaches you the meaning of love which you carry on forever in your heart.

Secondly, we see that loyalty strengthens a family. When you have a family, you are devoted to them. You stick by them through the hard times and celebrate in their happy times. A family always supports and backs each other. They stand up for each other in front of a third party trying to harm them proving their loyalty.

Most importantly, the things one learns from their family brings them closer. For instance, we learn how to deal with the world through our family first. They are our first school and this teaching strengthens the bond. It gives us reason to stand by each other as we share the same values.

No matter what the situation arises, your family will never leave you alone. They will always stand alongside you to overcome the hardships in life. If anyone is dealing with any kind of trouble, even a small talk about it to the family will make ones’ mind lighter and will give them a sense of hope, an inner sense of strength to fight those problems.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Importance of Family

One cannot emphasize enough on the importance of family. They play a great role in our lives and make us better human beings. The one lucky enough to have a family often do not realize the value of a family.

However, those who do not have families know their worth. A family is our source of strength. It teaches us what relationships mean. They help us create meaningful relationships in the outside world. The love we inherit from our families, we pass on to our independent relationships.

Moreover, families teach us better communication . When we spend time with our families and love each other and communicate openly, we create a better future for ourselves. When we stay connected with our families, we learn to connect better with the world.

Similarly, families teach us patience. It gets tough sometimes to be patient with our family members. Yet we remain so out of love and respect. Thus, it teaches us patience to deal better with the world. Families boost our confidence and make us feel loved. They are the pillars of our strength who never fall instead keep us strong so we become better people.

We learn the values of love, respect, faith, hope, caring, cultures, ethics, traditions, and everything else that concerns us through our families. Being raised in a loving household provides a solid foundation for anyone.

People develop a value system inside their family structure in addition to life lessons. They learn what their family considers to be proper and wrong, as well as what the community considers to be significant.

Families are the epicentres of tradition. Many families keep on traditions by sharing stories from the past over the years. This allows you to reconnect with family relatives who are no longer alive. A child raised in this type of household feels as if they are a part of something bigger than themselves. They’ll be proud to be a part of a community that has had ups and downs. Communities thrive when families are strong. This, in turn, contributes to a robust society.

Q.1 What strengthens a family?

A.1 A family’s strength is made up of many factors. It is made of love that teaches us to love others unconditionally. Loyalty strengthens a family which makes the members be loyal to other people as well. Most importantly, acceptance and understanding strengthen a family.

Q.2 Why is family important?

A.2 Families are very important components of society and people’s lives. They teach us a lot about life and relationships. They love us and treat us valuably. They boost our self-confidence and make us feel valued. In addition, they teach us patience to deal with others in a graceful and accepting manner.

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The Importance of Family Stability to Social Protection and Achieving Sustainable Development

February 12, 2019 9:45 AM – 11 AM

United Nations Conference Room 12

Those who do not have a UN pass must RSVP by February 6th by emailing [email protected]

The family is recognized in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as “the natural and fundamental group unit of society” and “entitled to protection by society and the State.” All efforts to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development must necessarily emphasize the role of the family because of its essential function as primary educator, economic driver, and social safety net.

Family stability is an essential component of social stability and social protection. In many developing countries the family is the only form of social protection. In developed countries the breakdown of the family is causing new and unforeseen challenges to social protection. Even in the context of peace and security, the topic of family stability is an essential consideration to be borne in mind not just with regard to family reunification, but also when designing humanitarian interventions. Governments have an obligation under international law to adopt laws and polices that, as much as possible, provide conditions conducive to family formation and stability.

Governments must help individuals exercise their right to marry and found a family ad well as provide social protection for the family. When the family breaks down the consequences for men, women, and especially children, are far reaching and dramatic. And repercussions are felt throughout society. Governments must, as much as possible, help strengthen families in order to achieve the best possible level of social protection.

This event will provide a platform for UN Member States to present best practices to promote family stability to strengthen and protect the family, in accordance with their international obligations. In addition, a broad representation of international civil society organizations and family policy experts will provide their experience and research on the importance of family stability both in the field and within the UN system, especially in the context of the 2030 Agenda.

Entire event can been watched here .

CEREMONIAL SEGMENT  with the participation of the high-ranking officials from the Group of Friends and from the United Nations followed by Panel Discussion   (moderator: TBD)

Opening Video: TBD

Maria Fernanda Espinosa Garces , President of the 73rd session of the General Assembly (tbc)

Inga Rhonda King,  President of ECOSOC (tbc)

Andrei Dapkiunas,  Deputy Minster of Foreign Affairs of Belarus, on behalf of the Group of Friends of the Family

Statement by Representative for the Group of the Friends of the Family

Civil Society Statement – Annie Franklin, Family Watch International

PANEL DISCUSSION 

 Moderator: Austin Ruse, President, C-Fam

“The Importance of Healthy Father-Child Relationship for Family Stability and Social Protection,” –  Jay Fagan, Ph.D., Professor of Social Work, Temple University (Confirmed)

“The Importance of Family Stability for Children,” –  Mark Regnerus, Ph.D. Professor of Sociology, University of Texas at Austin (Confirmed)

“Family and Peace,” –  Susan Yoshihara, Ph.D., Senior Vice President for Research, C-Fam (Confirmed)

“Foster Parenting and Public Policy: Protecting Society one Life at a Time,” –  Honorable Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, former Member U.S. House of Representatives, Co-Chairperson for Hammarskjold Society for Well Versed, Inc. (Confirmed)

ORGANIZERS:

Group of Friends of the Family, Center for Family and Human Rights (C-Fam)

THE GROUP OF FRIENDS OF THE FAMILY :

Bangladesh, Belarus, Comoros, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Libya, Malaysia, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Yemen, Uganda, Zimbabwe

CO-SPONSORING ORGANIZATIONS:

Civil Society for the Family represents 180 International NGOs. The organizing committee for this platform includes the following: Center for Family and Human Rights (C-Fam), Family Research Council, Human Life International, HazteOir.org, Citizen Go, and Derecho a Vivir

View online at: https://c-fam.org/event/importance-family-stability/

© 2016 C-Fam (Center for Family & Human Rights). Permission granted for unlimited use. Credit required. www.c-fam.org

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Families’ Financial Stress & Well-Being: The Importance of the Economy and Economic Environments

Terri friedline.

1 University of Michigan School of Social Work, 1080 S. University Avenue, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 USA

2 University of Southern Mississippi School of Social Work, Hattiesburg, USA

So’Phelia Morrow

The Great Recession and the unfolding COVID-19 Pandemic Recession—two major disruptions to the economy that occurred just one decade apart—unequivocally confirm the importance of the economy and economic environments for understanding families’ financial stress and well-being. However, recent published literature places too little emphasis on the economy and economic environments and instead focuses on explanations rooted within individuals and families. In this article, we review research on families’ financial stress and well-being published in JFEI between 2010 and 2019, which analyzed data collected during the Great Recession and were subsequently published in the shadow of the economic downturn. We discuss the economy and economic environments as gaps in the literature and encourage future research to focus on these explanations of stress and well-being, especially in response to the pandemic recession.

Introduction

As one of the most significant macroeconomic events of the last century, the Great Recession that began in 2007 undermined the financial well-being of millions of American families. This widespread economic downturn disrupted families’ financial well-being, defined as being able to “fully meet current and ongoing financial obligations” (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau [CFPB] 2015 , p. 18), when banks’ and financial institutions’ predatory and subprime lending precipitated the foreclosure crisis and forced families into borrowing debt (Mian and Sufi 2014 ; Federal Reserve Bank of New York 2019 ). The extraordinary rise in subprime mortgage lending precipitated the equally extraordinary rise in default rates: Nearly 4 million homes were foreclosed at the height of the Great Recession (Mian and Sufi 2014 ). Suggestive of their need to cope with economic hardship, families increased their borrowing in the years after the economic downturn. Total consumer debt rose from approximately $7 trillion in 2003 to $12 trillion in 2008 and $14 trillion in 2019 in inflation-adjusted dollars (Federal Reserve Bank of New York 2019 ). These effects were experienced more acutely by those who were targeted by banks and financial institutions for subprime lending and that had the fewest financial resources to spare, including Black and Brown families (Faber 2018 ; Hamilton and Darity 2017 ), lower-income families (Pfeffer et al. 2013 ), and families headed by women (Baker et al. 2019 ).

The effects of the recession precipitated by the global pandemic in 2020, caused by the rapid spread of the coronavirus COVID-19, will be far more severe than those of the Great Recession. American families never fully recovered from the Great Recession to begin with, as evidenced by continued rising consumer debt and wealth losses (Baker et al. 2019 ; Federal Reserve Bank of New York 2019 ; Hamilton and Darity 2017 ). Without strong and aggressive government intervention, families are likely to be completely financially devastated by the unfolding Pandemic Recession. It will be years and decades before the full, lasting effects of the Pandemic Recession on all aspects of life are understood; however, early reports of families’ lived experiences are already revealing their immediate financial devastation. While the lessons that are still being gleaned from the Great Recession can inform current and ongoing responses to the Pandemic Recession, much more extensive and grassroots-focused policy responses will be needed to stabilize and shore up families’ financial well-being.

Since its inception in the late 1970s, the Journal of Family and Economic Issues (JFEI) has been dedicated to the important academic mission of exploring and understanding families’ financial well-being within the contexts of their economic environments. The journal’s literature published within the most recent decade—a time period that encompasses the Great Recession—continues this legacy and has made important contributions on a range of topics including income, wealth, and debt (Addo et al. 2019 ; Fan and Chatterjee 2019 ; Hancock et al. 2013 ), economic hardship (Lucero et al. 2016 ; Schieman and Young 2011 ), financial stress (Kramer et al. 2019 ; Valentino et al. 2014 ), and strategies for coping with hardship, like saving money (Fisher and Montalto 2011 ; Fontes 2011 ; Haron et al. 2013 ).

At the same time, we contend that recent published literature on families’ financial stress places too little emphasis on economic environments and, by extension, the economy (Friedline, Nam et al. 2014 ; Lai 2011 ; Rauscher and Elliott 2016 ; Thorne 2010 ; Vesely et al. 2015 ), and often focuses on explanations rooted within individuals and families (Deidda 2015 ; Gjertson 2016 ; Park and Kim 2018 ; Romo 2014 ; Stein et al. 2013 ; Tobe et al. 2016 ; Valentino et al. 2014 ). This lopsided emphasis is common for articles in journals whose scope is similar to that of JFEI, such as journals focused on family or household finance, counseling, and planning. The effects of Great Recession and the unfolding COVID-19 Pandemic Recession on families’ financial well-being—two major disruptions to the economy that occurred just one decade apart—should unequivocally confirm the importance of the economy and economic environments. The gaps created by the focus of JFEI’s recent published literature provide opportunities for the journal to extend its mission and focus on the economy and economic environments in which families are situated.

In this article, we review research broadly captured under the umbrella of financial stress and published in JFEI between 2010 and 2019, and which were mostly conducted in the United States. These 23 articles were assigned to us by the special issue editors to focus on financial stress. The articles analyzed data collected during the Great Recession and were subsequently published in the shadow of the economic downturn. Therefore, a focus on the economy (national and global macroeconomic sites of labor, production, and consumption) and economic environments (local and regional economic sites) is even more consequential. We discuss these gaps in the literature and encourage future research on families’ financial stress and well-being to emphasize the economy and economic environments, especially in response to the Pandemic Recession.

A Literature Review of Financial Stress and Well-Being

The literature we reviewed that broadly focused on financial stress and well-being can be grouped into four categories: income, wealth, and debt; economic hardship; financial stress; and coping strategies. We attempted to create a temporal ordering of families’ financial stress by grouping the literature into these categories. For example, families with inadequate income, wealth, or debt may experience economic hardship that precipitates stress when they struggle to afford their current and ongoing financial obligations. Families use a variety of strategies to cope with these circumstances. Table ​ Table1 1 lists these articles and provides a summary of their research questions and main findings. Given that these articles covered broad and overlapping topics, several were grouped into multiple categories.

Summary of reviewed literature

Income, Wealth, and Debt

The Great Recession weakened the financial well-being of many families, placing them at risk by destabilizing income-producing and wealth-generating mechanisms (Friedline et al. 2014 ; Lee and Kim 2018 ; Rauscher and Elliott 2016 ; Rhine et al. 2016 ). Families experienced significant changes or disruptions to their income, wealth, and debt during and after the economic downturn (Federal Reserve Bank of New York 2019 ). One basic way that families attempted to establish and maintain their financial well-being was through savings account ownership (Rhine et al. 2016 ). Savings provide families with liquidity for supplementing their income and making further investments. Those with savings accounts were able to take better advantage of these assets for buffering against some of the negative effects of the economic downturn (Friedline et al. 2014 ); although, families who were positioned to take better advantage of these assets benefitted from intergenerational wealth transfers (Friedline et al. 2014 ; Rauscher and Elliott 2016 ).

One way families tried to maintain their financial well-being in response to the Great Recession was through opening lines of credit and applying for small loans. However, families’ participation in these types of wealth-building and debt accumulation mechanisms was restricted to those who were able to participate in lower-cost, higher quality financial services. Instead, many families used higher-cost, lower quality financial services like payday, installment, and auto title lenders. For example, households with constrained credit were more likely to use payday loans than those who were not (Lee and Kim 2018 ). In the years following the Great Recession, many households reported that a payday loan was the only option available to them (Lee and Kim 2018 ).

Families struggled to manage their debt during the economic downturn and turned to public welfare for support (Kim and Wilmarth 2016 ). Public welfare can help families avoid debt or help them to repay current debts. Kim and Wilmarth ( 2016 ) found that 54% of the households receiving public welfare were able to meet debt-to-income guidelines compared to only 46% of households who were not receiving assistance, thus showing the government’s role in helping households manage their debt especially during an economic downturn. Some families had been accumulating debt when the Great Recession began and were therefore more vulnerable. In their exploration of the determinants of filing for bankruptcy, Bauchet and Evans ( 2019 ) found that having higher credit card debt was positively associated with filing for bankruptcy while having higher asset amounts was negatively associated. Moreover, having educational debt from student loans was negatively associated with filing for bankruptcy, potentially highlighting that certain types of debt could have differential effects on the likelihood of filing for bankruptcy.

There were also differences in income, wealth, and debt by race, class, and gender identity (Malone et al. 2010 ; Rhine et al. 2016 ; Rauscher and Elliott 2016 ). For example, compared to White families, Black and Latinx families were less likely to own a savings account and had less access to liquid assets like money market, mutual fund, or retirement accounts (Rhine et al. 2016 ). Higher income households had more financial resources to buffer them from income and wealth losses compared to lower income households (Rauscher and Elliott 2016 ). Gender differences in real wages also suggest that the Great Recession affected men’s and women’s wages differently. Women spent more time on activities like cooking meals and childcare than men (Kuehn 2016 ). Time spent caring for children was consistently negatively associated with real wages, such that more time spent caring for children resulted in a decrease in actual wages (Kuehn 2016 ).

Economic Hardship

Economic hardship, also referred to as material hardship, refers to families’ inability to meet their needs such as food, clothing, and health care (Mimura 2008 ; Rios and Zautra 2011 ). Closely related to poverty, economic hardship is a multidimensional construct and has been assesssed by a host of measures that go beyond traditional poverty measures that are based primarily on income thresholds. Because the construct taps into multiple, distinct dimensions of well-being (Iceland and Bauman 2007 ), economic hardship has been frequently examined in the aftermath of the Great Recession to gain nuanced understandings of families’ experiences. Examples of economic hardship reviewed in the literature include food, housing, health care, education, and bankruptcy, which together reflect families’ difficulty in meeting their needs (Heflin 2016 ).

Many Americans experienced abrupt changes in employment, income, and wealth during and after the Great Recession that were associated with their economic hardship (Bauchet and Evans 2019 ; Deidda 2015 ; Heflin 2016 ). For example, Heflin ( 2016 ) found that experiencing income losses and having a person with disability join the household were associated with hardships related to housing, health care, and other essential expenses like food. Analyzing data from five European countries, Deidda ( 2015 ) found that housing costs were a financial burden and were associated with economic hardship, such as preventing families from spending money on health care, education, food, and clothing. Findings from these studies converge to suggest that many families lived in a time of financial instability and were vulnerable to financial shocks. Changes in life circumstances can easily place households at risk of experiencing economic hardship, ranging from diffculty in covering basic needs to filling for bankruptcy (Bauchet and Evans 2019 ; Deidda 2015 ; Helfin 2016 ).

Economic hardship inevitably places stress on family relationships (Masarik and Conger 2017 ; McCubbin et al. 1980 ), which can make some more vulnerable to abuse and violence (Lucero et al. 2016 ; Showalter 2016 ). Lucero, Lim, and Santiago ( 2016 ) examined the link between economic hardship and intimate partner violence with a sample of 941 women in committed relationships. The longitudinal data analyzed in this study allowed for an examination of economc hardship over a 10-year timespan between 1999 and 2010 that included the Great Recession. Continuously high levels of economic hardship over time elevated the risk of intimate partner violence, implying that ongoing economic hardship can be an additive stressor that subjects women to intimate partner violence.

Financial Stress

Families experience financial-related psychological stress or distress when they do not have adequate income, wealth, or debt to afford economic hardship (Lai 2011 ; Park and Kim 2018 ; Thorne 2010 ; Sweet et al. 2013 ). A concept that is related to well-being (CFPB 2015 ), financial stress arises when families are unable to meet their current and ongoing financial obligations. Financial stress is often operationlized as the physical or mental health symptoms that arise from having difficulty meeting basic needs, difficulty paying bills, and money leftover at the end of the month (Afifi et al. 2018 ; Ponnet et al. 2016 ; Romo 2014 ; Valentino et al. 2014 ). These indicators that measure the extent to which families lack the financial resources to afford current or persistent obligations help to explain why greater income and wealth are often associated with lower financial stress (Lai 2011 ; Romo 2014 ; Valentino et al. 2014 ).

Financial stress presented differently among individuals within and across families. Women, for example, experienced the effects of financial stress by having poorer physical and mental health when compared to men (Afifi et al. 2018 ; Lai 2011 ; Park and Kim 2018 ; Stein et al. 2013 ; Thorne 2010 ). In heterosexual couples, women reported higher levels of stress and anxiety than their partners in anticipation of having conversations about money (Afifi et al. 2018 ). Women’s higher levels of financial stress could have been partly due to the fact that they were responsible for managing their households’ finances during economic hardship. Thorne ( 2010 ) interviewed couples who were filing for bankruptcy, finding that women were often solely responsible for financial decision-making during this time and that they experienced severe stress. Overwhelmed with the responsibilities of paying taxes and responding to creditors, one woman prayed she would die during an upcoming surgery to escape her financial stress, “I was to the point where when I went in for surgery, I prayed to God that I didn’t wake up…I just didn’t want to come home…I wanted to have an easy suicide” (Thorne 2010 , p. 194).

There were also differences in financial stress across racial groups (Afifi et al. 2018 ; Park and Kim 2018 ; Serido et al. 2014 ; Valentino et al. 2014 ). For instance, White young adults exhibited higher rates of alcohol use and heavy drinking in the presence of financial stress when compared to their Asian, Black, and Latinx counterparts (Serido et al. 2014 ). In a study that examined the communication patterns and stress levels of White and Latinx heterosexual couples, Latinx couples often presented as a united front, used humor, and blamed the Great Recession for their economic hardship (Afifi et al. 2018 ). Couples that adopted these communication patterns also exhibited lower cortisol levels. A study that examined financial stress longitudinally found that Black mothers displayed higher rates of financial stress over time, whereas White mothers’ stress was stable yet persistent (Valentino et al. 2014 ). For White mothers, their stress could be explained in part by their depressive symptoms. However, depressive symptoms did not predict Black mothers’ stress (Valentino et al. 2014 ), which might be better explained by disparities in income, wealth, and debt (Hamilton and Darity 2017 ; Pfeffer et al. 2013 ) and could indicate that popular scales validated on White populations are inadequate for measuring Black women’s depression (Jones and Ford 2008 ; Watson and Hunter 2015 ; Woods-Giscombé and Lobel 2008 ).

Coping Strategies

Families experienced econonic hardship and mounting financial stress in the post Great Recession era. A stream of research has investigated how individuals and families coped with economic hardship and financial stress, especially focusing on certain demographic groups or social identities such as low-income households (Bauchet and Evans 2019 ; Gjertson 2016 ; Kim and Wilmarth 2016 ; Tobe et al. 2016 ), immigrants (Vesley et al. 2015 ), women (Menclova 2013 ), and young adults (Stein et al. 2013 ). The coping strategies that individuals and families adopted varied to a great extent, with some similarities.

Faith and religious beliefs were a commonly investigated and discussed coping strategy. For example, Tobe et al. ( 2016 ) observed families receiving counseling services and found that they used faith to build support systems through new relationships with others. Similarly, Stein et al. ( 2013 ) described how college students used religious coping strategies to make sense of the economic crisis and loss. College students that responded to surveys perceived the economic crisis as a punishment from God; although their religious perceptions did not appear to be associated with self-reported well-being (Stein et al. 2013 ). Reliance on family and relationships were observed among economically distressed families: Strong family relationships helped to sustain those under emotional and financial stress among Midwest families (Tobe et al. 2016 ) and immigrant mothers (Vesely et al. 2015 ).

Families also coped financially by borrowing from payday loans, filing for bankrutpcy, using government susidies, changing jobs, or saving for emergencies (Gjertson 2016 ; Lebert and Voorpostel 2016 ), espeically among low-income families (Kim and Wilmarth 2016 ) and families with credit constraints (Bauchet and Evans 2019 ; Lee and Kim 2018 , Tobe et al. 2016 ). These coping strategies align with the literature on economic hardship, which concludes that many families remained financially stressed during the illusory economic recovery. Notably, these coping strategies were closely linked to the recession. Specifically, the likelihoods of using payday loans and filing bankrupcy were higher among families with damaged credit and credit card debt (Bauchet and Evans 2019 ; Lee and Kim 2018 , Tobe et al. 2016 ). Studies imply that the magnitudes of these associations increased strongly following the Great Recession. In addition, race and life circumstances seemed to matter when it came to using these strategies. For instance, given the constraints created by discrimination and inequality (Shapiro 2017 ), Black respondents and households with a dependent child had higher likelihoods of using payday loans (Lee and Kim 2018 ). Having a new child enter the family was associated with an increased possiblity of filling for bankrupcy, while retiring was associated with a decreased possiblity of filing for bankruptcy (Bauchet and Evans 2019 ).

Public welfare was an important strategy for families who utilized these government-sponsored programs to cope with economic hardship and financial stress. Studies suggest that public welfare helped families to manage their debt (Kim and Wilmarth 2016 ), as well as to improve their physical health outcomes (Menclova 2013 ). These findings are especially relevant given that participants included low-income families (Kim and Wilmarth 2016 ) and women (Menclova 2013 ), who were disproportionately impacted by the Great Recession (Baker et al. 2019 ; Pfeffer et al. 2013 ). For families that used public welfare, these government programs were just one component of a series of supports that they cobbled together to cope with econimc hardship and financial stress (Vesely et al. 2015 ; Tobe et al. 2016 ), suggesting that public welfare in and of itself was far from sufficient (Edin and Shaefer 2016 ).

The Invisible Hand(s) of Financial Stress

The current focus of JFEI’s published literature aligns with a neoliberal perspective of financial stress, which locates the responsibility for experiencing financial stress with individuals and families as opposed to the economy and economic environments (Abernathy et al. 2019 ; Lin and Neely 2020 ). The market forces of neoliberal capitalism are rendered invisible. This perspective deemphasizes or ignores macroeconomic trends from a capitalist system that raises the stakes on individuals and families and contributes to their financial stress, such as reduced collective bargaining power (Jacobs and Myers 2014 ; Western and Rosenfeld 2011 ) and low and stagnant wages in the labor market (Mishel et al. 2012 ); widening income and wealth inequality (Kim and Sakamoto 2008 ; Piketty 2014 ); subprime financial products promoted by banks and lenders (Baradaran 2017 ); gentrification and rising housing costs (Maharawal 2017 ; Moore 2009 ); and environmental hazards like air pollution and lead-tainted water (Benz 2019 ; Mohai et al. 2009 ; Pulido 2016 ). Moreover, given that the published literature often attempts to understand differences in financial stress by race, class, and gender, a lack of consideration to the economy and economic environments may unwittingly advance harmful stereotypes by placing blame on families for their lived experiences with systemic racism, classism, and sexism (Hamilton and Darity 2017 ; Walsdorf et al. 2020 ).

The Great Recession—as the COVID-19 Pandemic Recession will become—is a critical backdrop in the literature on economic hardship, income, wealth, and debt, financial stress, and coping strategies. Recognizing the importance of the economy and families’ economic environments, most authors of the articles we reviewed justified their current data and analyses in reference to the Great Recession and situated their findings within this context (Bauchet and Evans 2019 ; Thorne 2010 ; Vesely et al. 2015 ). Though, despite this contextualization, authors often explained families’ financial circumstances by using language like choices, preferences, values, and information. This language situates explanations within the individual or family, while deemphasizing the economy and economic environments.

There are numerous examples of the literature’s de-emphasis of the economy and economic environments in favor of adopting individualized explanations. For instance, Kim and Wilmarth ( 2016 ) examined the relationship between receiving public welfare and households’ debt-to-income ratios. By exploring public welfare, Kim and Wilmarth ( 2016 ) explored the potential role of government in supporting families who were experiencing economic hardship. An acknowledgment of government’s role aligns with the perspective that the welfare state adjusts for the failures of capitalism (Azmanova 2012 ). However, in discussing possible interventions, the authors concluded that financial educators, counselors, and coaches could also assist families in managing their debt, writing, “Promoting better financial management for households could assist in saving resources from the government” (Kim and Wilmarth 2016 , p. 357). In other words, individualized interventions like financial education or coaching may assist families in responding to macroeconomic contexts that prevent them from meeting their current and ongoing financial obligations. In another example, Rhine and colleagues (2016) examined whether savings account ownership was associated with preventing wealth losses during the Great Recession, writing “…families recognized the value of possessing a savings account even as wealth or income may have declined to some degree” (p. 345). The authors inferred that there was an individualized, value-based explanation for rates of savings account ownership and or wealth during the Great Recession, despite reporting on disparities by household income and race that were evidence of classism and racism (Rhine et al. 2016 ). In a similar exploration of savings account ownership among young people, Friedline et al. ( 2014 ) wrote: “The wealth and resources of [their] households likely help them establish their savings accounts as children” (p. 406). While employing an explanation that hints at the ways the economy and policies enable intergenerational wealth transmissions, the passive language used by Friedline et al. ( 2014 ) discounts the centrality of this capitalist system.

There are some examples of how the reviewed literature emphasizes the importance of the economy and economic environments. For example, Lai ( 2011 ), Thorne ( 2010 ), and Vesely et al. ( 2015 ) wrote explicitly about the economy in which families were situated. In exploring the experiences of older Chinese immigrants in Canada during the economic downturn, Lai ( 2011 ) wrote: “Challenges related to institutional racism, mistrust of the system, inadequate knowledge of services available…The recession can further contribute to the discrimination against older people, particularly those who come closer to the retirement age in the work force” (p. 521, 522). By first identifying institutional racism and discrimination, Lai ( 2011 ) recognized macroeconomic explanations for older Chinese immigrants’ experiences while acknowledging the existence of individual explanations like knowledge of available services. Vesely et al. ( 2015 ) interviewed low-income immigrant mothers who moved to the US from Latin America and Africa, writing, “…ecocultural theorists account for the ecological factors, including ‘institutional forces’ that impact families’ daily lives, and in turn, individuals’ wellbeing” (p. 515). Vesely et al. identified “institutional forces” to emphasize the importance of the economy and families’ economic environments for understanding their well-being.

Toward an Emphasis on the Economy and Economic Environments

Families are situated within specific historic, cultural, social, political, and economic contexts. An emphasis on the economy and economic environments illuminates or makes visible some of these contexts and policy decisions that are responsible for families’ well-being, which is especially important in the wake of the Great Recession and COVID-19 Pandemic Recession. While explanations rooted in individuals and families—such as focusing on a family’s budgeting or observing their levels of financial knowledge—can decontextualize and flatten families’ experiences, an added emphasis on the economy and economic environments offers more holistic and accurate understandings.

The Economy of Capitalism

Families’ financial stress and well-being are influenced by the economy and associated policy decisions (Baradaran 2017 ; Mian and Sufi 2014 )—the national and increasingly global macroeconomic sites of labor and production, trade, and consumption of goods and services. For example, policy decisions to reduce workers’ collective bargaining power altered how labor for production was compensated and contributed to declines in union membership, decreased wages, and rising inequality (Western and Rosenfeld 2011 ). Over time, families experienced these policy decisions as declines in their income that occurred simultaneously with the rising costs of goods and services, compelling them to borrow debt to cope financially (Federal Reserve Bank of New York 2019 ). Therefore, the economy and related policy decisions are key drivers and explanations of families’ financial stress and well-being.

The United States’ economy is capitalist, and policy decisions are made in relation to capitalism. In its simplest definition, capitalism is an economic system where the means of production are privately owned (Hahne and Wright 2016 ; Wright 2018 ). That is, individuals do not realize the profits produced from their own labor; rather, private companies keep these profits in exchange for paying modest wages. Moreover, the current version of capitalism emphasizes individualism or personal responsibility and relies on finance for economic growth. Capitalism’s neoliberal paradigm emerged in the 1970s to emphasize individualism or personal responsibility, and has been characterized by limited state public welfare provision, privatization, deregulation, and free market competition (Abernathy et al. 2019 ). Neoliberalism’s related policy decisions have intensified financial pressures on families vis-à-vis the state’s withdrawal. Capitalism also requires the pursuit of income and profits for economic expansion (Friedman 1962 ; Romer 2014 ), which is increasingly driven by finance where income and profits are generated through financial channels instead of through labor and production (Lin and Neely 2020 ).

Capitalism pursues and creates profits by assigning difference, using social constructions that confer hierarchies of desirability or worthiness onto traits and characteristics for stratifying economic value (Cottom 2017 ; Robinson 1983 ). Capitalism’s differential economic valuations are discriminatory, enabling and even requiring people or property to be valued differently based on their proximity to social constructions of whiteness, maleness, and other privileged identities (Garrett-Scott 2019 ; Robinson 1983 ; Wang 2018 ). Many scholars criticize capitalism as a racialized and gendered project (Garrett-Scott 2019 ; Wang 2018 ). For example, the use of credit scoring assigns differential economic value to individuals based on a range of factors like borrowing debt and paying bills, and influences how banks make lending decisions (Lauer 2017 ; Nopper 2019 ). Credit scoring models assign higher values to Whites while assigning lower values to Black and Brown peoples that limit their lending options and contribute to their higher likelihoods of using payday loans (Lee and Kim 2018 ). Differential economic value enables a house to be valued more highly when it is located near desirable amenities like a park or central business district, or near socially-constructed desirable traits like communities with wealthier and whiter populations (Rothstein 2017 ; Taylor 2019 ), which has implications for access to credit and net worth accumulation. Therefore, a critical analysis of capitalism is important for understanding families’ financial stress and well-being, particularly for identifying evidence of discrimination in observed the differences by race, class, and gender (Afifi et al. 2018 ; Park and Kim 2018 ; Thorne 2010 ; Lai 2011 ; Vesely et al. 2015 ).

Economic Environments

In addition to the broader macro economy, families are situated within local and regional economic contexts. These economic environments—and the resources and opportunities available within—influence families’ financial stress and well-being. Decades of research in sociology (Sharkey et al. 2017 ; Small and McDermott 2006 ), social work (Green and McDermott 2010 ; Kang et al. 2019 ; Trattner 1999 ), geography (Galster et al. 2016 ; Hedman et al. 2015 ; Pike and Pollard 2015 ), and public health (Dankwa-Mullan and Pérez-STable 2016 ; Pérez and Martinez 2008 ; Shore et al. 2015 ) have emphasized the importance of families’ environments for understanding various aspects of well-being.

Financial services are one type of resource or opportunity within economic environments that may influence families’ financial stress and well-being. Mounting evidence confirms the importance of financial services within local economic environments. For instance, the presence, absence, or relative mix of financial services provide various resources and opportunities for families to supplement income, access credit, accumulate wealth, and cope with economic hardship. Individuals who live or grew up in communities with at least some bank branches are more likely to use these services, have bank accounts (Celerier and Matray 2017 ; Goodstein and Rhine 2017 ), and have higher credit scores (Brown et al. 2016 ). Moreover, the presence and concentration of higher-cost, lower quality financial services like payday lenders in economic environments undermine families’ financial stress and well-being. The concentration of higher-cost, lower quality financial services is associated with increased use of these services, and their use is associated with having lower credit scores and struggling to pay bills (Bhutta 2014 ; Melzer 2011 ).

One reason that a focus on economic environments is so important is because resources and opportunities are highly variable from one community to the next. Racism and classism have created stark geographies of segregation (Faber 2018 ; Rothstein 2017 ), meaning that there are vast differences in families’ economic environments that can explain differences in their financial stress and well-being. Policy decisions like those that created redlining, for example, codified racial and economic segregation into the geographic landscape. Redlining refers to a set of intentionally created and mutually reinforcing policies and practices implemented by banks, lenders, real estate agents, and government that excluded Black and Brown borrowers from the mortgage lending market (Rothstein 2017 ). The Home Owners Loan Corporation’s (HOLC) residential security maps assigned differential economic value to communities, where communities “greenlined” were predominantly White while communities “redlined” as hazardous for were predominantly Black and Brown (Baradaran 2017 ; Rothstein 2017 ). Since banks and lenders would not originate new loans in redlined communities, Black and Brown borrowers were excluded from the mortgage market and from the benefits of wealth via home equity (George et al. 2019 ).

Segregation shapes the resources and opportunities within local economic environments (Faber 2019 ; Rothstein 2017 ). For example, higher-cost, lower quality financial services like payday lenders and check cashers tend to concentrate in Black and Brown communities that are avoided by banks and credit unions (Baradaran 2015 ; Celerier and Matray 2017 ; Faber 2018 , 2019 ; Jorgensen and Akee 2017 ). Even the availability and use of digital technologies are subject to spatially organized segregation. Increases in communities’ Black and Brown populations are associated with decreases in high-speed internet access, online banking, and mobile banking; though, the relationships are opposite for increases in communities’ white population (Author). Whether families can apply for a low-cost loan at a bank or manage their money online depends to some extent on how segregation determines the resources and opportunities within their communities.

Future Directions and Conclusions

The literature on families’ financial stress and well-being can be expanded upon and advanced by focusing on the economy and economic environments. We offer three possibilities for future directions, including applying or developing theories, measuring variables and incorporating them into models, and analyzing policy decisions. These future directions are especially important for research that attempts to understand differences by race (Faber 2018 ), class (Pfeffer et al. 2013 ), and gender (Baker et al. 2019 ).

Future research should develop or apply theories that incorporate the economy and or economic environments into explanations of families’ financial stress and well-being. The existing literature relies on family stress theory, life cycle theory, and ecocultural theory (Kim et al. 2016; Masarik and Conger 2017 ; Tobe et al. 2016 ). While ecocultural theory accounts for economic environments (Vesely et al. 2015 ), neither life cycle theory nor family stress theory were designed to take the economy or economic environments into consideration. By failing to apply theories that incorporate these explanations, research instead focuses on individual-level solutions to larger social and economic problems. For instance, the evolution of the stress paradigm shows that a focus on stressful life events can obscure the role of larger social and economic factors on physical health and well-being (Link and Phelan 1995 ). Theories such as ecological systems theory (Bronfenbrenner 1975 ) can account for the interaction between an individual and their environment. Ecological systems theory posits that an individual’s environment comprises multiple systems, including a macrosystem characterized by rules, laws, and unwritten norms (Bronfenbrenner 1979 ). The economy and an individual’s economic environment are part of this larger macrosystem. Therefore, a focus on theories that do not consider the economy and economic environments can obscure the role they have in explaining families’ financial stress and well-being.

Research can also measure and test macro economic and environmental variables as explanations of families’ financial stress and well-being. The existing literature published in JFEI rarely measures macro economic or environmental variables, despite describing the importance of these contextual factors. The ramifications of the Great Recession such as income and wealth losses, home foreclosures, and rising debt have been widely experienced and contributed to a multitude of families’ economic hardships and financial stress (Mian and Sufi 2014 ). Nevertheless, the literature keeps the macro economy in the background or simply discusses these factors as missing variables (Heflin 2016 ). The absence of variables measuring the economy and economic environments is a critical gap and presents an opportunity for future research. Future research can measure and test variables on the economy and economic environments to more fully understand financial stress and well-being. Examples of such variables include job losses, housing costs, home foreclosure rates, loan originations, and access to financial services.

Future research should also test the effects of policy decisions on families’ financial stress and well-being, such as the policy decisions that codified redlining (Rothstein 2017 ), enable payday lending (Bhutta 2014 ), precipitate home foreclosure (Bauchet and Evans 2019 , or implement public welfare programs (Kim and Wilmarth 2016 , Menclova 2013 ). While extant studies examine home foreclosure and debt (Bauchet and Evans 2019 ; Kim and Wilmarth 2016 ), they fail to test the effects of policy decisions on financial stress and well-being outcomes. Similarly, policies regulating payday lending can have widespread impacts on families’ financial stress and well-being (Melzer 2011 ). However, few studies within the JFEI literature have investigated how payday lending regulations affect financial stress and well-being—even as these lenders expanded during and after the Great Recession (Faber 2018 ). Similarly, as public welfare programs appear to help families cope with economic hardship (Kim and Wilmarth 2016 ; Menclova 2013 ), research should examine how variations in public welfare policy implementation impact financial stress and well-being. Longitudinal studies are usefiul here given that a longitudinal framework is often needed to examine changes in the economy and in policy decisions over time. Future research should address this knowledge gap by testing the impacts of relevant policy decisions.

Lastly, racism, classism, and sexism at systemic levels mean that families experience economic downturns differently. As evidence of disparate impacts (if not discrimination) during the Great Recession, subprime lenders targeted Black and Brown communities for lower-quality, higher-cost loans (Faber 2018 ; Hamilton and Darity 2017 ) and women accumulated significant amounts of debt to support their families (Baker et al. 2019 ). Racial and economic segregation may further force the concentration of these differential experiences. Any future research that attempts to explain differences in families’ financial stress and well-being by race, class, or gender must take into account systemic explanations, like forms of discrimantion and the economy and economic environments. A failure to develop or apply theories, measure variables, or test policy decisions—even while describing these differences—risks blaming families for the discrimination and marginalization that they experience.

In conclusion, this paper fills gaps in the existing JFEI literature on families’ financial stress and well-being by emphasizing the importance of the economy and economic environments. A focus on the economy and economic environments has always been important. However, now, this focus is especially necessary for understanding the immediate and prolonged impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic Recession given the absence of public welfare and skyrocketing unemployment and debt. Future research must not ignore the contexts and policy decisions with regard to the COVID-19 Pandemic Recession that contribute to families’ stress and well-being. We therefore encourage researchers to incorporate and or investigate explanations of families’ financial stress and well-being that are rooted in the economy and economic environments.

Biographies

is an Associate Professor of Social Work at the University of Michigan. Her research focuses on financial system reforms and consumer protections. She holds an MSW and PhD from the University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work, and is an appointed member of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) Academic Research Council.

is an Assistant Professor at the University of Southern Mississippi School of Social Work. Her research focuses on understanding financial behaviors and decision making and interventions that promote financial inclusion and economic security for low-to-moderate income individuals and families. She holds an MSW and PhD from Louisiana State University, and received postdoc training at the Center on Assets, Education, and Inclusion housed in the University of Michigan School of Social Work.

is a doctoral student in the joint PhD program between Social Work and Sociology at the University of Michigan. Her research interests include understanding the relationship between wealth health among Black women. She holds an MSW (‘17) from the University of Michigan School of Social Work and an MPH (‘17) from the University of Michigan School of Public Health. So’Phelia is also a Rackham Merit Fellow.

No funding was received for this literature review article.

Compliance with Ethical Standards

The authors have no conflict of interest to report for this literature review article.

No animals were involved in this literature review article. This literature review article does not contain any studies with human participants performed by any of the authors.

Informed consent was not applicable for this literature review article.

This is one of several papers published together in Journal of Family and Economic Issues on the “Special Issue on Virtual Decade in Review”.

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Contributor Information

Terri Friedline, Email: ude.hcimu@ildeirft .

Zibei Chen, Email: ude.hcimu@ciebiz .

So’Phelia Morrow, Email: ude.hcimu@eirampos .

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Essay About Family

Families play a crucial role in everyone's life. A child's first school, where they learn about various things, is their family. Family provides basic knowledge about one's culture and identity. Here are a few sample essays on the topic ‘family’.

• 100 Words Essay On Family

For some people, family is simply their spouse and children. For others, family might be more inclusive, including parents, siblings, aunts and uncles, or even close friends. The definition of family is a personal one, and it's something that's constantly evolving. As you grow and change, so does your idea of what family means to you.

200 Words Essay On Family

500 words essay on family.

When you grow up in a family-focused environment, you learn some valuable lessons. You learn the importance of being humble, take responsibility for your actions, share kind words and be a part of a team. You also learn to read people—by watching how other family members interact and discuss topics, you come to understand the different personalities and what makes each person who they are.

Families can be big or small— they serve as the cornerstones of our stability, supporting us so that we can grow into better persons. They're the ones you can rely on when times are tough. They make you feel loved and supported, no matter what. Family is also a source of comfort. They're the ones you can turn to when you need a friend, someone to listen to your problems or just someone to make you laugh.

Most importantly, family is a connection to our past. They're the people who have been with us through thick and thin, good times and bad. Nothing compares to the comfort of a mother's hug or the joy of a father's pat on the back. Although we argue the most with our siblings, they always rush to our aid when we find ourselves in difficulties.

Family is important because they are our foundation, our support system, and our connection to the past. They make us who we are, and we wouldn't be the same without them.

Here are some ideas to stay connected with your family members:

Take a walk together

Play a board game

Make a meal together

Watch a movie or TV show

Go for a drive

Family members provide support, advice and unconditional love to each other. They help each other out when times are hard, which teaches you resilience and provides a safe cocoon within which to grow. From this kind of familial bonding, respect and appreciation emerge — an understanding that every one of us comes from the same source, with unique strengths and weaknesses, but all tied together as one unit. Growing up in a family-focused lifestyle can bring many benefits – it’s just up to us to take advantage of them and make the most out of it.

Importance Of Staying Connected

No matter what your family looks like, or how you're related to one another, there are plenty of creative ways to stay connected. You could call each other every day, or even just once a week. You could make a regular date to get together, or just hang out when the mood strikes. The important thing is that you make an effort to connect regularly. This not only strengthens your familial bonds, but it also provides a sense of stability and continuity that can be helpful during difficult times.

Challenges For Families

It is also important to recognise that families can experience challenges. Difficult events, such as death, divorce, illness and financial strain can affect a family’s dynamic. Your family may need to pull together and work through these challenges in order to make it through them. This could mean more frequent communication and more supportive behaviour from each family member. There may also need to be changes made to the family’s daily routine in order to manage disappointments or make time for any additional tasks that come up suddenly.

Conflicts Within Family

It is natural for families to experience conflict, but it is important that this conflict is managed in a healthy manner. This means not engaging in name-calling or physical aggression, but rather communicating openly with everyone involved in the disagreement. If necessary, the family could even seek out external support or other guidance from an outside source. In any case, it is important for each member of the family to remember that they all have each other’s best interests at heart. Having one-on-one time with your family is a great opportunity to share your thoughts and feelings about your loved ones. Regardless of your feelings about them, your family is an important part of your life.

I come from a family of four— my parents, my brother, and me. My father is a hardworking man who has always been patient and understanding. Growing up, I could count on him to be there when I needed him, whether it was to help with school or just provide advice. My mother is incredibly supportive and encouraging. She loves to spend time with her family and has always been our biggest cheerleader. My brother and I are very close—we were both lucky to be raised by two loving parents. We constantly share our experiences with each other, helping us navigate life together as siblings. We have many similar interests, like playing games and going on hikes together whenever we get the chance. I am thankful for having such an amazing family in my life.

Explore Career Options (By Industry)

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Bio Medical Engineer

The field of biomedical engineering opens up a universe of expert chances. An Individual in the biomedical engineering career path work in the field of engineering as well as medicine, in order to find out solutions to common problems of the two fields. The biomedical engineering job opportunities are to collaborate with doctors and researchers to develop medical systems, equipment, or devices that can solve clinical problems. Here we will be discussing jobs after biomedical engineering, how to get a job in biomedical engineering, biomedical engineering scope, and salary. 

Data Administrator

Database professionals use software to store and organise data such as financial information, and customer shipping records. Individuals who opt for a career as data administrators ensure that data is available for users and secured from unauthorised sales. DB administrators may work in various types of industries. It may involve computer systems design, service firms, insurance companies, banks and hospitals.

Ethical Hacker

A career as ethical hacker involves various challenges and provides lucrative opportunities in the digital era where every giant business and startup owns its cyberspace on the world wide web. Individuals in the ethical hacker career path try to find the vulnerabilities in the cyber system to get its authority. If he or she succeeds in it then he or she gets its illegal authority. Individuals in the ethical hacker career path then steal information or delete the file that could affect the business, functioning, or services of the organization.

Data Analyst

The invention of the database has given fresh breath to the people involved in the data analytics career path. Analysis refers to splitting up a whole into its individual components for individual analysis. Data analysis is a method through which raw data are processed and transformed into information that would be beneficial for user strategic thinking.

Data are collected and examined to respond to questions, evaluate hypotheses or contradict theories. It is a tool for analyzing, transforming, modeling, and arranging data with useful knowledge, to assist in decision-making and methods, encompassing various strategies, and is used in different fields of business, research, and social science.

Geothermal Engineer

Individuals who opt for a career as geothermal engineers are the professionals involved in the processing of geothermal energy. The responsibilities of geothermal engineers may vary depending on the workplace location. Those who work in fields design facilities to process and distribute geothermal energy. They oversee the functioning of machinery used in the field.

Remote Sensing Technician

Individuals who opt for a career as a remote sensing technician possess unique personalities. Remote sensing analysts seem to be rational human beings, they are strong, independent, persistent, sincere, realistic and resourceful. Some of them are analytical as well, which means they are intelligent, introspective and inquisitive. 

Remote sensing scientists use remote sensing technology to support scientists in fields such as community planning, flight planning or the management of natural resources. Analysing data collected from aircraft, satellites or ground-based platforms using statistical analysis software, image analysis software or Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is a significant part of their work. Do you want to learn how to become remote sensing technician? There's no need to be concerned; we've devised a simple remote sensing technician career path for you. Scroll through the pages and read.

Geotechnical engineer

The role of geotechnical engineer starts with reviewing the projects needed to define the required material properties. The work responsibilities are followed by a site investigation of rock, soil, fault distribution and bedrock properties on and below an area of interest. The investigation is aimed to improve the ground engineering design and determine their engineering properties that include how they will interact with, on or in a proposed construction. 

The role of geotechnical engineer in mining includes designing and determining the type of foundations, earthworks, and or pavement subgrades required for the intended man-made structures to be made. Geotechnical engineering jobs are involved in earthen and concrete dam construction projects, working under a range of normal and extreme loading conditions. 

Cartographer

How fascinating it is to represent the whole world on just a piece of paper or a sphere. With the help of maps, we are able to represent the real world on a much smaller scale. Individuals who opt for a career as a cartographer are those who make maps. But, cartography is not just limited to maps, it is about a mixture of art , science , and technology. As a cartographer, not only you will create maps but use various geodetic surveys and remote sensing systems to measure, analyse, and create different maps for political, cultural or educational purposes.

Budget Analyst

Budget analysis, in a nutshell, entails thoroughly analyzing the details of a financial budget. The budget analysis aims to better understand and manage revenue. Budget analysts assist in the achievement of financial targets, the preservation of profitability, and the pursuit of long-term growth for a business. Budget analysts generally have a bachelor's degree in accounting, finance, economics, or a closely related field. Knowledge of Financial Management is of prime importance in this career.

Product Manager

A Product Manager is a professional responsible for product planning and marketing. He or she manages the product throughout the Product Life Cycle, gathering and prioritising the product. A product manager job description includes defining the product vision and working closely with team members of other departments to deliver winning products.  

Underwriter

An underwriter is a person who assesses and evaluates the risk of insurance in his or her field like mortgage, loan, health policy, investment, and so on and so forth. The underwriter career path does involve risks as analysing the risks means finding out if there is a way for the insurance underwriter jobs to recover the money from its clients. If the risk turns out to be too much for the company then in the future it is an underwriter who will be held accountable for it. Therefore, one must carry out his or her job with a lot of attention and diligence.

Finance Executive

Operations manager.

Individuals in the operations manager jobs are responsible for ensuring the efficiency of each department to acquire its optimal goal. They plan the use of resources and distribution of materials. The operations manager's job description includes managing budgets, negotiating contracts, and performing administrative tasks.

Bank Probationary Officer (PO)

Investment director.

An investment director is a person who helps corporations and individuals manage their finances. They can help them develop a strategy to achieve their goals, including paying off debts and investing in the future. In addition, he or she can help individuals make informed decisions.

Welding Engineer

Welding Engineer Job Description: A Welding Engineer work involves managing welding projects and supervising welding teams. He or she is responsible for reviewing welding procedures, processes and documentation. A career as Welding Engineer involves conducting failure analyses and causes on welding issues. 

Transportation Planner

A career as Transportation Planner requires technical application of science and technology in engineering, particularly the concepts, equipment and technologies involved in the production of products and services. In fields like land use, infrastructure review, ecological standards and street design, he or she considers issues of health, environment and performance. A Transportation Planner assigns resources for implementing and designing programmes. He or she is responsible for assessing needs, preparing plans and forecasts and compliance with regulations.

An expert in plumbing is aware of building regulations and safety standards and works to make sure these standards are upheld. Testing pipes for leakage using air pressure and other gauges, and also the ability to construct new pipe systems by cutting, fitting, measuring and threading pipes are some of the other more involved aspects of plumbing. Individuals in the plumber career path are self-employed or work for a small business employing less than ten people, though some might find working for larger entities or the government more desirable.

Construction Manager

Individuals who opt for a career as construction managers have a senior-level management role offered in construction firms. Responsibilities in the construction management career path are assigning tasks to workers, inspecting their work, and coordinating with other professionals including architects, subcontractors, and building services engineers.

Urban Planner

Urban Planning careers revolve around the idea of developing a plan to use the land optimally, without affecting the environment. Urban planning jobs are offered to those candidates who are skilled in making the right use of land to distribute the growing population, to create various communities. 

Urban planning careers come with the opportunity to make changes to the existing cities and towns. They identify various community needs and make short and long-term plans accordingly.

Highway Engineer

Highway Engineer Job Description:  A Highway Engineer is a civil engineer who specialises in planning and building thousands of miles of roads that support connectivity and allow transportation across the country. He or she ensures that traffic management schemes are effectively planned concerning economic sustainability and successful implementation.

Environmental Engineer

Individuals who opt for a career as an environmental engineer are construction professionals who utilise the skills and knowledge of biology, soil science, chemistry and the concept of engineering to design and develop projects that serve as solutions to various environmental problems. 

Naval Architect

A Naval Architect is a professional who designs, produces and repairs safe and sea-worthy surfaces or underwater structures. A Naval Architect stays involved in creating and designing ships, ferries, submarines and yachts with implementation of various principles such as gravity, ideal hull form, buoyancy and stability. 

Orthotist and Prosthetist

Orthotists and Prosthetists are professionals who provide aid to patients with disabilities. They fix them to artificial limbs (prosthetics) and help them to regain stability. There are times when people lose their limbs in an accident. In some other occasions, they are born without a limb or orthopaedic impairment. Orthotists and prosthetists play a crucial role in their lives with fixing them to assistive devices and provide mobility.

Veterinary Doctor

Pathologist.

A career in pathology in India is filled with several responsibilities as it is a medical branch and affects human lives. The demand for pathologists has been increasing over the past few years as people are getting more aware of different diseases. Not only that, but an increase in population and lifestyle changes have also contributed to the increase in a pathologist’s demand. The pathology careers provide an extremely huge number of opportunities and if you want to be a part of the medical field you can consider being a pathologist. If you want to know more about a career in pathology in India then continue reading this article.

Speech Therapist

Gynaecologist.

Gynaecology can be defined as the study of the female body. The job outlook for gynaecology is excellent since there is evergreen demand for one because of their responsibility of dealing with not only women’s health but also fertility and pregnancy issues. Although most women prefer to have a women obstetrician gynaecologist as their doctor, men also explore a career as a gynaecologist and there are ample amounts of male doctors in the field who are gynaecologists and aid women during delivery and childbirth. 

An oncologist is a specialised doctor responsible for providing medical care to patients diagnosed with cancer. He or she uses several therapies to control the cancer and its effect on the human body such as chemotherapy, immunotherapy, radiation therapy and biopsy. An oncologist designs a treatment plan based on a pathology report after diagnosing the type of cancer and where it is spreading inside the body.

Audiologist

The audiologist career involves audiology professionals who are responsible to treat hearing loss and proactively preventing the relevant damage. Individuals who opt for a career as an audiologist use various testing strategies with the aim to determine if someone has a normal sensitivity to sounds or not. After the identification of hearing loss, a hearing doctor is required to determine which sections of the hearing are affected, to what extent they are affected, and where the wound causing the hearing loss is found. As soon as the hearing loss is identified, the patients are provided with recommendations for interventions and rehabilitation such as hearing aids, cochlear implants, and appropriate medical referrals. While audiology is a branch of science that studies and researches hearing, balance, and related disorders.

Hospital Administrator

The hospital Administrator is in charge of organising and supervising the daily operations of medical services and facilities. This organising includes managing of organisation’s staff and its members in service, budgets, service reports, departmental reporting and taking reminders of patient care and services.

For an individual who opts for a career as an actor, the primary responsibility is to completely speak to the character he or she is playing and to persuade the crowd that the character is genuine by connecting with them and bringing them into the story. This applies to significant roles and littler parts, as all roles join to make an effective creation. Here in this article, we will discuss how to become an actor in India, actor exams, actor salary in India, and actor jobs. 

Individuals who opt for a career as acrobats create and direct original routines for themselves, in addition to developing interpretations of existing routines. The work of circus acrobats can be seen in a variety of performance settings, including circus, reality shows, sports events like the Olympics, movies and commercials. Individuals who opt for a career as acrobats must be prepared to face rejections and intermittent periods of work. The creativity of acrobats may extend to other aspects of the performance. For example, acrobats in the circus may work with gym trainers, celebrities or collaborate with other professionals to enhance such performance elements as costume and or maybe at the teaching end of the career.

Video Game Designer

Career as a video game designer is filled with excitement as well as responsibilities. A video game designer is someone who is involved in the process of creating a game from day one. He or she is responsible for fulfilling duties like designing the character of the game, the several levels involved, plot, art and similar other elements. Individuals who opt for a career as a video game designer may also write the codes for the game using different programming languages.

Depending on the video game designer job description and experience they may also have to lead a team and do the early testing of the game in order to suggest changes and find loopholes.

Radio Jockey

Radio Jockey is an exciting, promising career and a great challenge for music lovers. If you are really interested in a career as radio jockey, then it is very important for an RJ to have an automatic, fun, and friendly personality. If you want to get a job done in this field, a strong command of the language and a good voice are always good things. Apart from this, in order to be a good radio jockey, you will also listen to good radio jockeys so that you can understand their style and later make your own by practicing.

A career as radio jockey has a lot to offer to deserving candidates. If you want to know more about a career as radio jockey, and how to become a radio jockey then continue reading the article.

Choreographer

The word “choreography" actually comes from Greek words that mean “dance writing." Individuals who opt for a career as a choreographer create and direct original dances, in addition to developing interpretations of existing dances. A Choreographer dances and utilises his or her creativity in other aspects of dance performance. For example, he or she may work with the music director to select music or collaborate with other famous choreographers to enhance such performance elements as lighting, costume and set design.

Videographer

Multimedia specialist.

A multimedia specialist is a media professional who creates, audio, videos, graphic image files, computer animations for multimedia applications. He or she is responsible for planning, producing, and maintaining websites and applications. 

Social Media Manager

A career as social media manager involves implementing the company’s or brand’s marketing plan across all social media channels. Social media managers help in building or improving a brand’s or a company’s website traffic, build brand awareness, create and implement marketing and brand strategy. Social media managers are key to important social communication as well.

Copy Writer

In a career as a copywriter, one has to consult with the client and understand the brief well. A career as a copywriter has a lot to offer to deserving candidates. Several new mediums of advertising are opening therefore making it a lucrative career choice. Students can pursue various copywriter courses such as Journalism , Advertising , Marketing Management . Here, we have discussed how to become a freelance copywriter, copywriter career path, how to become a copywriter in India, and copywriting career outlook. 

Careers in journalism are filled with excitement as well as responsibilities. One cannot afford to miss out on the details. As it is the small details that provide insights into a story. Depending on those insights a journalist goes about writing a news article. A journalism career can be stressful at times but if you are someone who is passionate about it then it is the right choice for you. If you want to know more about the media field and journalist career then continue reading this article.

For publishing books, newspapers, magazines and digital material, editorial and commercial strategies are set by publishers. Individuals in publishing career paths make choices about the markets their businesses will reach and the type of content that their audience will be served. Individuals in book publisher careers collaborate with editorial staff, designers, authors, and freelance contributors who develop and manage the creation of content.

In a career as a vlogger, one generally works for himself or herself. However, once an individual has gained viewership there are several brands and companies that approach them for paid collaboration. It is one of those fields where an individual can earn well while following his or her passion. 

Ever since internet costs got reduced the viewership for these types of content has increased on a large scale. Therefore, a career as a vlogger has a lot to offer. If you want to know more about the Vlogger eligibility, roles and responsibilities then continue reading the article. 

Individuals in the editor career path is an unsung hero of the news industry who polishes the language of the news stories provided by stringers, reporters, copywriters and content writers and also news agencies. Individuals who opt for a career as an editor make it more persuasive, concise and clear for readers. In this article, we will discuss the details of the editor's career path such as how to become an editor in India, editor salary in India and editor skills and qualities.

Linguistic meaning is related to language or Linguistics which is the study of languages. A career as a linguistic meaning, a profession that is based on the scientific study of language, and it's a very broad field with many specialities. Famous linguists work in academia, researching and teaching different areas of language, such as phonetics (sounds), syntax (word order) and semantics (meaning). 

Other researchers focus on specialities like computational linguistics, which seeks to better match human and computer language capacities, or applied linguistics, which is concerned with improving language education. Still, others work as language experts for the government, advertising companies, dictionary publishers and various other private enterprises. Some might work from home as freelance linguists. Philologist, phonologist, and dialectician are some of Linguist synonym. Linguists can study French , German , Italian . 

Public Relation Executive

Travel journalist.

The career of a travel journalist is full of passion, excitement and responsibility. Journalism as a career could be challenging at times, but if you're someone who has been genuinely enthusiastic about all this, then it is the best decision for you. Travel journalism jobs are all about insightful, artfully written, informative narratives designed to cover the travel industry. Travel Journalist is someone who explores, gathers and presents information as a news article.

Quality Controller

A quality controller plays a crucial role in an organisation. He or she is responsible for performing quality checks on manufactured products. He or she identifies the defects in a product and rejects the product. 

A quality controller records detailed information about products with defects and sends it to the supervisor or plant manager to take necessary actions to improve the production process.

Production Manager

Merchandiser.

A QA Lead is in charge of the QA Team. The role of QA Lead comes with the responsibility of assessing services and products in order to determine that he or she meets the quality standards. He or she develops, implements and manages test plans. 

Metallurgical Engineer

A metallurgical engineer is a professional who studies and produces materials that bring power to our world. He or she extracts metals from ores and rocks and transforms them into alloys, high-purity metals and other materials used in developing infrastructure, transportation and healthcare equipment. 

Azure Administrator

An Azure Administrator is a professional responsible for implementing, monitoring, and maintaining Azure Solutions. He or she manages cloud infrastructure service instances and various cloud servers as well as sets up public and private cloud systems. 

AWS Solution Architect

An AWS Solution Architect is someone who specializes in developing and implementing cloud computing systems. He or she has a good understanding of the various aspects of cloud computing and can confidently deploy and manage their systems. He or she troubleshoots the issues and evaluates the risk from the third party. 

Computer Programmer

Careers in computer programming primarily refer to the systematic act of writing code and moreover include wider computer science areas. The word 'programmer' or 'coder' has entered into practice with the growing number of newly self-taught tech enthusiasts. Computer programming careers involve the use of designs created by software developers and engineers and transforming them into commands that can be implemented by computers. These commands result in regular usage of social media sites, word-processing applications and browsers.

ITSM Manager

Information security manager.

Individuals in the information security manager career path involves in overseeing and controlling all aspects of computer security. The IT security manager job description includes planning and carrying out security measures to protect the business data and information from corruption, theft, unauthorised access, and deliberate attack 

Business Intelligence Developer

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The Importance of Financial Stability for Families

When it comes to family stability, there is no more important factor than having a strong financial foundation. Money troubles can cause all sorts of problems within a household, from increased stress levels to arguments and even divorce. This is why it’s so important for families to work together to create and stick to a budget, and make sure everyone in the household is contributing their fair share. When everyone knows their role and responsibilities when it comes to money, it can go a long way towards creating a stable home life for your loved ones. Here we’ll take a closer look at why financial stability is so important for families.

The definition of financial stability and how it’s important for families

Financial stability is a term that is used to describe the financial health of an individual or family. It includes factors such as income, debts, savings, and investment. Financial stability is important because it provides security and peace of mind. It gives families the ability to plan for their future and meet their financial goals. While there is no one-size-fits-all definition of financial stability, there are a few key components that are essential for most families. These include having enough income to cover basic expenses, paying off debts with the help of professionals like these Winnipeg debt experts, and having savings for emergencies. Financial stability is also important because it can help families weather difficult times, such as job loss or medical emergencies. Having a solid financial foundation can make all the difference in how well a family is able to cope with life’s challenges. For these reasons, financial stability is an important goal for many families.

How to achieve financial stability for your family

When it comes to financial stability, there are a few key things to keep in mind. First, it’s important to make sure that you’re bringing in enough money to cover your expenses. This may mean getting a higher-paying job or finding ways to cut back on your spending. Second, it’s essential to have an emergency fund in place. This will help you cover unexpected costs, such as medical bills or car repairs. Finally, it’s a good idea to invest in long-term financial stability by saving for retirement or college tuition. By taking these steps, you can ensure that your family has the security and stability you need.

The benefits of having a financially stable family

A family’s financial stability can have many benefits. For one, it can provide peace of mind and reduce stress levels. When bills are paid on time and there is money left over for savings and investment, families can feel secure in their future. Financial stability can also lead to better physical health, as chronic stress has been linked to a variety of health problems. In addition, financially stable families often have more opportunities to spend time together and pursue shared interests. They may also be able to afford to send their children to private schools or take vacations together. All of these factors can contribute to a stronger sense of family cohesion and connection. As such, financial stability can have a positive impact on both the individual members of a family and the family unit as a whole.

The importance of talking about money with your spouse or partner

Talking about money can be difficult, especially when it comes to talking about finances with a spouse or partner. Money is often seen as a taboo topic, and as a result, many couples avoid talking about their finances altogether. However, failing to talk about money can lead to major financial problems down the road. Couples who are on the same page regarding their finances are more likely to be successful in meeting their financial goals. Furthermore, talking about money can help to prevent arguments and disagreements about finances from happening in the first place. What’s even more important, talking about money can protect your children’s mental health. When it comes to children, money problems can affect them greatly, which is why many parents ask for help from a child psychologist in Winnipeg . On the other hand, when couples communicate openly about their financial situation, they are more likely to make sound financial decisions that benefit both partners, as well as their children. For all these reasons, it is important to make talking about money a priority in any relationship.

Disclaimer: This article contains sponsored marketing content. It is intended for promotional purposes and should not be considered as an endorsement or recommendation by our website. Readers are encouraged to conduct their own research and exercise their own judgment before making any decisions based on the information provided in this article.

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With Charles and Catherine Sidelined, It’s Camilla’s Time to Shine

The woman whose very existence once seemed to threaten the royal family’s stability has emerged as a stabilizing force during a major health crisis.

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By Mark Landler and Megan Specia

Reporting from London

In the last few weeks, as illness has sidelined two of Britain’s most visible royal figures, Catherine, Princess of Wales, and King Charles III, one member of the family’s frontbench has stepped into the vacuum: Queen Camilla.

Last week, she traveled to the Isle of Man to deliver a speech on Charles’s behalf and met with public officials and community groups. She then flew to Northern Ireland, where she visited a bakery and butcher shop, attended a literary event and accepted salutes at a military parade.

Camilla, 76, smiled for the photographers, joking on Thursday that a camera-friendly toddler who upstaged her visit to the butcher shop was a “natural.” She betrayed neither the strain of taking care of a cancer-stricken husband, nor that a day later Catherine would announce that she, too, had been diagnosed with cancer .

It is the kind of twist of fate that royal watchers savor: Camilla, the woman whose very existence once seemed to threaten the stability of the royal family, has emerged as a stabilizing force during a major royal health crisis. At times recently, it has felt as though she was carrying the entire House of Windsor on her shoulders.

“This is a vulnerable time for the royal family, where their human frailties are fully on display,” said Arianne J. Chernock, an associate professor of history at Boston University and an expert on the modern British monarchy. “Camilla’s own background and training can help her in these circumstances.”

With her husband canceling public engagements while he undergoes treatment, and with Catherine out for the foreseeable future for chemotherapy, Camilla has taken on high-profile duties. Her trip to Northern Ireland, scheduled before the king became ill, thrust her onto diplomatically delicate terrain, given the territory’s legacy of sectarian violence and its politically fragile government. By all accounts, she performed well.

Camilla is not the only senior royal picking up the load while Charles and Catherine are ill. Princess Anne, the king’s sister, has kept up her typically packed diary of royal events. Catherine’s husband, Prince William, hopes to return to full-time duties after the Easter holiday, and Charles has continued to meet foreign leaders and hold his weekly session with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

But nobody has been a more conspicuous stand-in than Camilla. At the Commonwealth Day service in Westminster Abbey this month, she led the royal family along with William. Speaking on the Isle of Man, she said, “My husband is so sorry that he cannot be with us on this extremely special occasion, but he has sent me here armed with a copy of his speech to read out on his behalf.”

Her brisk, no-nonsense style — so tempting for comedians like Tracey Ullman to send up — has helped steady a family thrown badly off balance. She reassures people that the king is doing well and tries to project an air of normalcy. When a mother held up her baby, Louis, Camilla replied that she had a grandson Louis, who she said was “quite a handful.” It was a leavening contrast to Catherine, who spoke in her video announcement about the anguish of telling Louis and her other two children that she was sick.

Even before the recent spate of illness, the royal family’s ranks had been depleted by the deaths of Queen Elizabeth II and her husband, Prince Philip; the bitter departure of Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan; and the exile of Prince Andrew over his links to Jeffrey Epstein, the sexual offender. That had increased the burden on Camilla, who assumed the title of queen consort in 2022, upon Elizabeth’s death.

Earlier this month, Camilla took a week off to spend time with her husband and family, which unsettled some royal watchers, given the family’s staffing shortage. But she threw herself quickly back into her duties.

Camilla’s emergence does not solve what has become an acute problem for the royal family. She carried out 233 engagements last year, according to a tally by The Daily Telegraph, while Charles carried out 425. But both are in their 70s, and the younger generation is not picking up the slack. Even before Catherine’s illness, she and William did fewer royal events, citing their young family.

Some experts said they expected the royal family to make more use of social media to amplify their in-person appearances. The family’s Instagram account has more than 13 million followers and its account on X well over five million. But the downside of social media became clear during Catherine’s prolonged hospitalization and convalescence, when it exploded with rumors and conspiracy theories.

“They’re going to have to change what they do,” said Peter Hunt, a former royal correspondent for the BBC. “In the absence of William and Kate, they don’t have the manpower. They are not going to be able to deliver as they once did.”

For Camilla, this latest iteration is yet another twist in her complex relationship with the public — one that has settled into, if not affection, then acceptance. In a poll of British adults by the market research firm YouGov last year, Camilla had an approval rating of 41 percent. That is higher than Harry, at 27 percent, but below Charles, at 51 percent, Catherine, at 63 percent, and William, at 68 percent.

To royal historians, last year’s coronation was the capstone of years of image rehabilitation by Charles and Camilla, who became romantically involved when she was known as Camilla Parker-Bowles. She had shouldered much of the blame for the failure of his first marriage, to Princess Diana, who died in a car crash in 1997. London’s tabloids vilified Camilla, splashing intimate details about the couple’s personal lives on their front pages.

But in the years since Charles and Camilla were married in 2005 in an understated civil ceremony, they have worked steadily to rebuild their images. Camilla became an active, dutiful participant in royal life. Nothing did more to cement her status than when the queen, shortly before her death, laid out a road map for Camilla to become queen consort , putting to rest years of uncertainty and speculation over her status.

In hindsight, royal watchers say, Elizabeth’s blessing may have been as much about ensuring a smooth transition in the monarchy after her reign as it was a reward to Charles and Camilla for their improved public images.

“Not that Elizabeth could foresee the series of challenges that the royal family has encountered this past year, but Elizabeth recognized that the monarchy is never just about the monarch, it’s about the family on the throne,” Professor Chernock of Boston University said. “Now is Camilla’s moment.”

Mark Landler is the London bureau chief of The Times, covering the United Kingdom, as well as American foreign policy in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. He has been a journalist for more than three decades. More about Mark Landler

Megan Specia reports on Britain, Ireland and the Ukraine war for The Times. She is based in London. More about Megan Specia

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Dynamics and thermal stability of the bypass polymerase, dinb homolog (dbh) provisionally accepted.

• 1 University of California, Irvine, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

The DinB homolog polymerase (Dbh) is a member of the Y-family of translesion DNA polymerases that can synthesize using a damaged DNA template. Since Dbh comes from the thermophilic archaeon Sulfolobus acidocaldarius, it is capable of functioning over a wide range of temperatures. Existing Xray structures were determined at temperatures where the protein is least active. Here we use NMR and circular dichroism to understand how the structure and dynamics of Dbh are affected by temperature (2-65 °C) and metal ion binding in solution. We measured hydrogen exchange protection factors, temperature coefficients, and chemical shift perturbations with and without magnesium and manganese. We report on regions of the protein that become more dynamic as the temperature is increased toward the functional temperature. Hydrogen exchange protection factors, and temperature coefficients reveal that both the thumb and finger domains are very dynamic relative to the palm and LF domains. These trends remain true at high temperature with dynamics increasing as temperatures increase from 35 °C to 50 °C. Notably, NMR spectra show that the Dbh tertiary structure cold denatures beginning at 25 °C and increases in denaturation as the temperature is lowered to 5 °C with little change observed by CD. Above 35 °C, chemical shift perturbation analysis in the presence and absence of magnesium and manganese reveals three ion binding sites, without DNA bound. In contrast, these bound metals are not apparent in any Dbh crystal structures of the protein without DNA. Two ion binding sites are confirmed to be near the active site, as reported in other Y-family polymerase, and we report a novel ion binding site in the LF domain. Thus, the solution-state structure of the Dbh polymerase is distinct from that of the solid-state structures and shows an unusually high cold denaturation temperature. 1 Introduction DinB homolog polymerase (Dbh) is produced by the thermophilic Archaea Sulfolobus acidocaldarius (S. acidocaldarius), that grows optimally at temperatures close to 75 -80 °C and pH values between 2-4 (Grogan, 1989

Keywords: DBH, Y-family polymerase, DinB Homolog, NMR, Thermal stability, dynamics, Cold denaturation

Received: 01 Jan 2024; Accepted: 01 Apr 2024.

Copyright: © 2024 Cocco, Soto and Moro. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Mx. Melanie J. Cocco, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, United States

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