PARENTING

Teenagers often know when their parents are having money problems − and that knowledge is linked to mental health challenges, new research finds. When parents try to shield their kids from financial hardship, they may be doing them a favor: Teens’ views about their families’ economic challenges are connected to their mental health and behavior. That’s the main finding of a study into household income and child development that I recently conducted with my colleagues. As a professor of psychology, I know there’s a good deal of research showing that young people who experience more household economic hardship tend to have more behavioral problems. But most studies on this issue rely heavily on caregiver reports – that is, what adults say about their kids. Fewer researchers have asked you...

Mothers are more likely to work worse jobs – while fathers thrive in careers. Having a child is bad for a woman’s earnings. This is not only in the immediate period after the birth, but across her lifetime – as shown in research by recent economics Nobel prize-winner Claudia Goldin. On the other hand, men who become fathers are perceived as self-reliant and decisive. And they are often rewarded at work with opportunities and pay. Campaigns by groups like Pregnant Then Screwed make explicit that, in the UK, this “motherhood penalty” extends to pregnancy discrimination, the extortionate costs of childcare and ineffective flexible working policies. Yet we still know little about how it extends to job quality. Together with colleagues, I have carried out research to explore this “motherhood pe...

Secure attachment to both parents − not just mothers − boosts children’s healthy development. Imagine a sudden rustle in the tall grass. A ripple of alarm passes through the group of early humans who live together amid ancient, rugged terrain. In the center of the encampment, a 3-year-old child – let’s call her Raina – stumbles and falls, her eyes wide with fear. Without hesitation, her mother sweeps her up into her protective arms, while her grandmother quickly gathers herbs and leaves to create a pungent smokescreen to deter lurking predators. Simultaneously, Raina’s father and uncles move swiftly to the outskirts of the camp, their vigilant eyes scanning for signs of danger. In this heart-pounding moment, Raina was enveloped in a web of care. Multiple caregivers worked seamlessly togeth...

Do Single Moms Have the Right to Pursue New Love? Single moms always have the fear of experiencing the same torture and nightmares all over again in marriage. But this does not mean they do not have the right to rearrange their life. If you have been staying single for a long, then it is time to find someone who will fill your life with happiness. Here are some of the reasons that might change your mind about staying alone: Staying single forever is too tiring It is indeed tough to stay single forever, especially after separation. Due to this reason, it is important for single mothers to give a chance to themselves. You cannot disagree that after a certain age, having a partner works as a blessing. Not only you can share everything with them but also your partner becomes your supporting p...

And in spite of that, girls are increasingly outcompeting boys and turning into future leaders. Amid the avalanche of reports deploring troubled teens and blaming their youthful peers and social media, two new trends are emerging that are both disturbing and encouraging. And teenage girls are the focus of these trends. On one hand, girls of the 2020s are depicted as miserably depressed, imperiled, and suicidal. But they are also seen as dynamic achievers, increasingly outcompeting men and boys in education, jobs, and activist leadership, all to the consternation of traditionalists. Which is it? Bad news first—and it is bad. American girls are being abused and murdered at appalling rates. From 2010 through the most recent 2023 Centers for Disease Control (CDC) tabulations, 6,600 America...

The ReDefine Parenting Program empowers parents, caregivers, and children to speak up when they hear or see abusive behavior. When Christina Kaviani’s son, 6, doesn’t want to hug a grandparent or friend, Kaviani goes against some parenting methods and doesn’t make him. To her, it’s a matter of consent. As an educator on healthy relationships, consent is at the heart of what she teaches. Kaviani is a professor in the Women’s, Gender and Queer Studies Department at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo who also works with a nonprofit to guide local parents in teaching their children about consent and healthy relationships. The goal is to create stronger families and prevent relationship violence. “I’m just encountering so many parents that have no idea about how to have these conversations, and they n...

PONTIAC, Michigan — Cierra walked into the Bowens Senior Center with trepidation, but also hope. The promotional flier that brought the mother of three to this community center a few miles outside of Detroit offered to help people eliminate any active warrants for their arrest — people like her, who had a warrant for a years-old traffic violation. But something else on the flier also caught her attention: Along with promising no arrests, it highlighted that child care would be provided. So Cierra brought her 4-year-old daughter and dropped her off with a volunteer at a multi-colored bounce house just a few feet from the makeshift courtroom inside. A handful of local attorneys and judges who volunteered their Saturday to help process cases waited behind the doors. “The child care is why ...