The Big Idea
Families with low incomes are more likely to experience mental health issues, particularly among fathers. This can lead to family conflicts that could be violent. This is the main finding of a study that I conducted and was published recently in the Journal of Family Relations.
In the past, poverty research was mainly conducted on mothers. It focused on low incomes and did not consider “material hardship” or its impact on fathers. The term “family income” refers specifically to the dollar amount parents earn through their paid work. For example, an annual household income of US$27.750 for a four-person family. Material hardship, on the other hand, refers to how a family is able to meet basic needs like food, utilities, and health insurance.
My research team discovered that the poor mental health of fathers was not the cause of the increased conflict with mothers. It was a daily struggle to make ends meet. Conflict behaviors include blaming your partner for the things that go wrong, putting down their feelings, opinions, or desires, or turning small arguments into nasty fights with accusations. This type of verbal aggression is harmful to a partner’s relationship, and it can also be harmful to young children when they see their parents engage in this behavior.
My team analyzed data from the Building Strong Families Project. This project included a large, diverse group of heterosexual couples, mostly single, who had young children and lived on a low income. We wanted to see how economic insecurity, defined as low incomes and material hardships for families, affected the mental health of mothers and fathers and their relationship functioning.
The key finding was that material hardship, such as difficulties paying bills, rent, or health insurance, and destructive conflict behavior, was mainly caused by the depressive symptoms of fathers and not mothers. Depressive symptoms include feelings of sadness, sleep issues, difficulty concentrating, and disinterest in food.
Why it matters
These findings suggest the negative impact of material hardships on relationships within couples is felt more by fathers than mothers. Fathers are more likely to feel stressed when they cannot fulfill their primary role as breadwinners. This is because of gender stereotypes. When fathers believe they cannot provide for their families in order to reduce the everyday economic stresses, it can lead to mental health issues and conflict between fathers. Our study shows the importance of giving fathers equal attention and how family intervention can help reduce the negative effects that fathers experience and the depressive symptoms they have.
In addition, the COVID-19 Pandemic has caused a high level of unemployment, insecurity, and mental health issues for parents, including fathers with low-income status. In this context, it is important to address the mental health of fathers and mothers in order to maintain a healthy family during the pandemic.
What other research is going on?
I’m beginning to look at how positive relationships between parents can help families resist the negative effects that poverty has on them. In another study that I led, I found that mothers and fathers who focused on positive behavior, such as being in a co-parenting group on behalf of their child, were more likely than others to be able to resist economic stressors associated with poverty and engage in warm, sensitive parenting which benefited the social development of their young children.
