"MATERIAL WELL-BEING AND THE FAMILY: UNDERSTANDING THE PREDICTORS AND IMPLICATIONS OF MATERIAL HARDSHIP AND POVERTY FOR MOTHERS AND THEIR OLDER CHILDREN"

Jair Johnson

This dissertation investigated the concept of material hardship in relationship to material well-being for families with older children. This dissertation utilized data from the Future of Families and Child Well-being Survey (FFCWS). I measured material hardship in a variety of ways to better understand well-being for mothers and their families. I focused exclusively on mothers with children that are in late childhood and adolescence (ages 9 and 15). This dissertation is comprised of three interrelated studies. The first study used wave 5 and 6 of the FFCWS data to examine both internalizing and externalizing problems for adolescents to determine if past material hardship mattered alongside contemporary experiences of material hardship. The results showed that contemporary experiences of material hardship mattered more for adolescent internalizing and externalizing behaviors when examined alongside prior material hardship. This study established that material hardship had implications for adolescents beyond poverty. In the next study, I go on to examine patterns of which families experienced hardship. The second study examined whether race conditioned the partnership status differences in experiences of both material hardship and poverty. This study examined mother-headed families of adolescent children and utilized wave 6 of FFCWS data. Race did not condition the partnership status of mothers as it pertained to material hardship. However, as it pertained to poverty, marriage disproportionately advantaged White mothers’ poverty status compared to both Black and Hispanic mothers. This study showed results for material hardship and poverty differing. The final study utilized wave 5 and 6 of the FFCWS to examine if mothers with older children exclusively (ages 9 and 15) that experienced partnership changes were associated with material hardship change over the same period. The results of this study displayed that the exit out of a relationship increased the likelihood of hardship while partnership changes into relationships alleviated material hardship (except for food insecurity). The results of this study showed that mothers with older children didn’t differ from mothers with younger children with respect to partnership changes and experiences of material hardship. Together, these studies reveal the importance of material hardship as a concept that differs from poverty and warrants further investigation to better understand the well-being of families.

"MATERIAL WELL-BEING AND THE FAMILY: UNDERSTANDING THE PREDICTORS AND IMPLICATIONS OF MATERIAL HARDSHIP AND POVERTY FOR MOTHERS AND THEIR OLDER CHILDREN"

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