Fatherhood Summit Session
Addressing fathers’ employment needs is crucial in most fatherhood programs, but many dads face special challenges in finding work. This session began with a brief overview of how employment has been addressed in fatherhood programs through key demonstration projects such as Parents’ Fair Share. Next, the presenters described effective methods for providing employment services to a range of high-need fathers including noncustodial or nonresidential fathers, and fathers with criminal records, minimal education, or child support arrears. The presenters addressed common road blocks to…
This chapter draws upon 14 years of related ethnographic studies to uncover the principal features that characterize family life among the poor. Experiences dealing with multiple agencies are discussed, as well as experiences dealing with health problems in the context of the U.S. medical care system, and the aftermaths of household emergencies. 34 references.
This chapter synthesizes the results of both quantitative experimental and qualitative research about how low-income children fare as their mothers spend more time in the labor market and attempt to strike a new balance between work and parenting. Findings indicate policies that effectively increase parental income as they increase employment improve the well-being of young children and are the most promising for helping families cope. Numerous references.
A study used qualitative methods to explore the specific mechanisms and processes through which poverty and welfare changes affected 186 low-income families with young children. Particular attention was paid to the relative influences of factors related to welfare reform, family financial resources, and characteristics associated with parent, child, and family functioning. Case studies are offered. 26 references.
This final chapter reviews major findings from qualitative studies of low-income families facing a new policy environment that calls for women to work outside the home in addition to managing the second shift of work inside the home. Findings indicate women continue to put their children’s needs above paid employment, few women experience real economic gains by increased work participation, and children’s well-being appears to be buffered and advanced by women’s well-being, social support, and parenting quality. 39 references.
Easy-to-read basics to help families toward economic stability. Includes emergency benefits, job search and readiness, and basic budgeting. Presentation slides on CD-ROM (2010) are available for purchase, allowing for easy presentation by your staff to clients.(Author abstract modified)
This is Strengthening Young Families' economic stability handbook, in easy-to-read Spanish. It teaches basics to help families toward economic stability. Includes emergency benefits, job search and readiness, and basic budgeting. (Author abstract)
An easy-to-read, comprehensive guide to job search assistance, GED and other education, budgeting, savings, and debt avoidance. For single-parent or two-parent families, with children of all ages. Presentation slides on CD-ROM (2010) are available for purchase, allowing for easy presentation by your staff to clients. (Author abstract modified)
One of the most challenging goals for welfare reformers has been improving the collection of child support payments from noncustodial parents, usually fathers. Often vilified as "deadbeats" who have dropped out of their children's lives, these fathers have been the target of largely punitive enforcement policies that give little consideration to the complex circumstances of these men's lives. Fathers' Fair Share presents an alternative to these measures with an in-depth study of the Parents' Fair Share program. A multi-state intervention run by the Manpower Demonstration Research…
You can be a good dad and a successful businessman by being the same person in both places. Daddy@Work shows you how openness and tenderness can work at the office and how your management and planning skills can work at home. As a young executive, Robert Wolgemuth discovered how work and home could become "graduate schools" for each other. This is the message of Daddy@Work: a successful man transfers skills in one sphere to the other, thereby improving them both.Whether you're a white- or blue-collar worker, whether a CEO or an electrician, if the commute between home and business feels more…
