Evidence shows the long-lasting impact on physical and mental health, educational outcomes and life chances caused by childhood poverty, while the link between family income and children’s health has long been established.
In recent years, school closures and lockdowns experienced during the Covid-19 pandemic have impacted negatively on children’s mental health and academic development. Research shows how this has disproportionately affected children from disadvantaged backgrounds, exacerbating already existing health inequalities.
Now a team of our researchers are investigating whether schemes to support family financial well-being can help improve family relationships and parenting and impact positively on child health and wellbeing. They set out the issues in an article Money Matters: Time for Prevention and Early Intervention to Address Family Economic Circumstances in the June 2023 edition of the Journal of Prevention, which is affiliated to the European Society for Prevention Research.
“We know that financial problems are a key driver of poor child health and development”.
Associate Professor in Health Services Research Dr Nick Axford, who is co-leading the research team with Associate Professor in Prevention Science Dr Vashti Berry said:
“Services that support families with things like parenting skills and early childhood education can be really effective at improving aspects of children’s their behaviour, cognition and social-emotional well-being. However, very few of them do much about the economic situation of families, even though they often target lower-income families. We know that financial problems are a key driver of poor child health and development and think this is not just a missed opportunity but also wrong, particularly as there is evidence that doing something to improve families’ economic situation is good for parents and children. For example, it can help parents to be less stressed, reduce conflict between parents and improve children’s behaviour, mental health and education.
“…there is evidence that doing something to improve families’ economic situation is good for parents and children”.
While changes to policy such as the tax and benefit system obviously play a critical role in this respect, we think there is scope for frontline services to do more to support children and families economically. This could take the form of help with securing benefit entitlements, the provision of money or material support, or a more general willingness to discuss money issues and their impact on families. Of course, it is really important to test new initiatives in this space to see what families think of them and also how effective they are, especially when combined with other forms of support like home visiting or parenting groups.”
The researchers’ first project in this area Income maximisation for families: exploring implementation and impact has been exploring income maximisation schemes for families in Plymouth. These schemes are one way to increase family income. However, little is known about whether they improve parent-child relations and child health and well-being.
What happens next?
Funded through the Plymouth Health Determinants Research Collaboration, and in collaboration with Plymouth City Council and Citizens Advice Plymouth (CAP), the researchers have been talking to families and CAP advisors and clients to adapt the service for delivery through selected children’s centres in the city. Learning will be shared with service providers, commissioners and funders to help shape future policy and practice.
Related publications
