Mental health and sleep quality of low-income mothers of one-year-olds during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent social restrictions created an unprecedented context for families raising young children. Although studies have documented detrimental effects of the pandemic on maternal well-being, less is known about how the pandemic specifically impacted low-income mothers. We examined depression, anxiety, and sleep quality among low-income mothers of one-year-olds during the early months of the pandemic using data from the Baby's First Years study. Focusing on the control group (n = 547), we compared mothers interviewed before March 14th, 2020 (n = 342) to mothers interviewed between March 14th and June 30th, 2020 (n = 205) to determine whether the pandemic was associated with differences in mental health and sleep quality. Mothers were recruited from four cities in the United States, and most of the sample identified as Hispanic (42.2%) or Black, non-Hispanic (38.6%). We found that mothers interviewed during the pandemic reported better mental health and sleep quality. While we cannot speak to longer-term impacts of the pandemic, it is possible low-income mothers experienced relief from daily stressors during the initial shelter-in-place orders, which may have led to improvements in well-being. These results have implications for understanding how complex life stressors influence mental health and sleep quality among low-income mothers raising young children.

La pandemia del COVID-19 y las subsecuentes restricciones sociales crearon un contexto sin precedentes para las familias que estaban criando niños pequeños. Aunque los estudios han documentado los efectos perjudiciales de la pandemia sobre el bienestar materno, menos se conoce acerca de cómo la pandemia específicamente tuvo un impacto sobre madres de bajos recursos económicos. Examinamos la depresión, ansiedad y calidad del sueño entre madres de bajos recursos económicos de niños de un año de edad durante los primeros meses de la pandemia usando datos del estudio Primeros Años del Bebé. Enfocándonos en el grupo de control (n = 547), comparamos las madres entrevistadas antes del 14 de marzo de 2020 (n = 342) con madres entrevistadas entre el 14 de marzo y el 30 de junio de 2020 (n = 205) para determinar si la pandemia se asociaba con diferencias en salud mental y calidad del sueño. A las madres se les reclutó en cuatro ciudades de Estados Unidos y la mayor parte del grupo muestra se identificaron como Hispanas (42.2%) o Negras no Hispanas (38.6%). Encontramos que las madres entrevistadas durante la pandemia reportaron mejor salud mental y calidad del sueño. A pesar de que no podemos hablar sobre el impacto a largo plazo de la pandemia, es posible que las madres de bajos recursos económicos experimentaran alivio en los factores diarios de estrés durante el inicial mandato de quedarse en su casa, lo cual pudiera haber llevado a mejoras en el bienestar. Estos resultados tienen implicaciones para comprender cómo los complejos factores de estrés influyen en la salud mental y la calidad del sueño entre madres de bajos recursos económicos que crían a niños pequeños.

La pandémie du COVID-19 et les restrictions sociales qui en ont découlé ont créé un contexte sans précédent pour les familles élevant de jeunes enfants. Bien que des études aient documenté des effets préjudiciables de la pandémie sur le bien-être maternel, on en sait moins sur la manière dont la pandémie a spécifiquement impacté les mères de milieux défavorisés. Nous avons examiné la dépression, l'anxiété, et la qualité du sommeil chez des mères de milieux défavorisés avec un enfant d'un an durant les premiers mois de la pandémie, en utilisant des données de l'étude Baby's First Years. Nous concentrant sur le groupe de contrôle (n = 547), nous avons comparé des mères interviewées avant le 14 mars 2020 (n = 342) à des mères interviewées entre le 14 mars et le 30 juin 2020 (n = 205) afin de déterminer si la pandémie était liée à des différences en santé mentale et en qualité de sommeil. Les mères ont été recrutées dans quatre villes des Etats-Unis et la plupart de l'échantillon s'identifiait comme Hispanique (42,2%) ou Noires, non hispaniques (38,6%). Nous avons trouvé que les mères interviewées Durant la pandémie faisaient état d'une meilleure santé mentale et d'une meilleure qualité de sommeil. Bien que nous ne puissions pas parler des impacts de la pandémie à long terme, il est possible que les mères de milieux défavorisés aient fait l'expérience d'un soulagement des facteurs de stress quotidiens durant la période initiale de confinement, ce qui pourrait avoir mené à des améliorations dans le bien-être. Ces résultats ont des implications pour la compréhension de la manière dont des facteurs de stress complexes influencent la santé mentale et la qualité du sommeil chez les mères de milieux défavorisés élevant de jeunes enfants.

Family poverty and neighborhood poverty: Links with children's school readiness before and after the Great Recession.

This paper examines how neighborhood and family poverty predict children's academic skills and classroom behavior at school entry, and whether associations have changed over a period of twelve years spanning the Great Recession. Utilizing the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten 1998 and 2010 cohorts and combined with data from the U.S. Census and American Community Survey, we find that the proportion of kindergarten children living in moderate and high poverty neighborhoods increased from 1998 to 2010, and that these increases were most pronounced for non-poor and white children. Using OLS and fixed effects regression analyses and holding family poverty constant, we find that children in neighborhoods with higher levels of poverty start school less ready to learn than their peers. Specifically, children from the highest poverty neighborhoods start school almost a year behind children from the lowest poverty neighborhoods in terms of their academic skills. In addition, we find that the academic skills gap between poor- and non-poor children within neighborhood poverty categories grew from 1998 to 2010, particularly in high poverty neighborhoods. These findings appear to be explained both by changes in the composition of families within neighborhood poverty categories and income increases among non-poor families. The findings indicate that neighborhood poverty may be a useful proxy to identify children and families in need of additional support.

Do the Effects of Early Childhood Education Programs Differ by Gender? A Meta-Analysis.

A meta-analysis was conducted to examine gender differences in the effects of early childhood education programs on children's cognitive, academic, behavioral, and adult outcomes. Significant and roughly equal impacts for boys and girls on cognitive and achievement measures were found, although there were no significant effects for either gender on child behavior and adult outcomes such as employment and educational attainment. Boys benefited significantly more from these programs than girls on other school outcomes such as grade retention and special education classification. We also examined important indicators of program quality that could be associated with differential effects by gender.

Contraception use and satisfaction among mothers with low income: Evidence from the Baby's First Years study.

OBJECTIVES: Low income can lead to limited choice of and access to contraception. We examine whether an unconditional cash transfer (UCT) impacts contraceptive use, including increased satisfaction with and reduced barriers to preferred methods, for individuals with low income. STUDY DESIGN: Baby's First Years is a randomized control study of a monthly UCT to families with low incomes. The study enrolled 1000 mothers at the time of childbirth across four US sites in 2018-2019; 400 were randomized to receive a UCT of $333/mo and 600 were randomized to receive $20/mo for the first years of their child's life. We use intent-to-treat analyses to estimate the impact of the cash transfer on contraception use, satisfaction with contraception method, and barriers to using methods of choice. RESULTS: Over 65% of mothers reported using some type of contraception, and three-quarters reported using the method of their choice. We find no impact of the UCT on mothers' choice of, satisfaction with, or barriers to contraception. However, the cash transfer was associated with trends toward using multiple methods and greater use of short-term hormonal methods. CONCLUSIONS: We find high levels of satisfaction with current contraceptive use among mothers of young children with low income. Receipt of monthly UCTs did not impact contraception methods, perceived barriers to use, or satisfaction. Yet, 25% were not using the method of their choice, despite the provision of cash, indicating that this cash amount alone may not be sufficient to impact contraceptive use or increase satisfaction. IMPLICATIONS: Satisfaction with contraception use among low-income populations may be higher than previously documented. Nevertheless, provision of modest financial resources alone may not sufficiently address access, availability, and satisfaction for individuals with low-incomes of childbearing age. This suggests the importance of exploring how other nonfinancial factors influence reproductive autonomy, including contraceptive use.

Preschool-to-Third Grade Programs and Practices: A Review of Research.

The preschool-to-third grade perspective has helped the early childhood field move away from a reliance on relatively brief or one-shot programs toward more systematic and comprehensive models that span most of children's first decade. We review the knowledge base on the effectiveness of preschool to third grade intervention programs and practices for young children making the transition to school. Our coverage includes extended early childhood interventions, preschool programs, full-day kindergarten, reduced class sizes in the early grades, parent involvement, instructional practices, and school transitions (mobility). We distinguish between two major PK-3 strategies. PK-3 programs are planned interventions that begin during any of the five years of a child's life before kindergarten and which continue up to third grade. The most comprehensive programs include all these elements, and serve children from low-income families or who have special needs. Alternatively, PK-3 practices are defined as specific elements or components of extended early childhood programs that are hypothesized to be associated with children's outcomes. These elements may include preschool education, full-day kindergarten, reduced class sizes, teaching practices, and parent involvement activities. Overall, we find growing evidence for the positive effects of PK-3 programs and practices. The strongest evidence supporting enduring effects into adulthood is from center-based preschool programs followed by small classes in the early grades. Additional longitudinal studies are needed into adulthood to fully document the effects of different PK-3 programs and to verify the extent to which PK-3 practices (e.g., parent involvement, school mobility) have long-term effects into adulthood.

Maximizing the potential of early childhood education to prevent externalizing behavior problems: A meta-analysis.

Early childhood education (ECE) programs offer a promising mechanism for preventing early externalizing behavior problems and later antisocial behavior; yet, questions remain about how to best maximize ECE's potential. Using a meta-analytic database of 31 studies, we examined the overall effect of ECE on externalizing behavior problems and the differential effects of 3 levels of practice, each with increasing specificity and intensity aimed at children's social and emotional development. In short, we found that each successive level of programs did a better job than the prior level at reducing externalizing behavior problems. Level 1 programs, or those without a clear focus on social and emotional development, had no significant effects on externalizing behavior problems relative to control groups (ES=.13 SD, p<.10). On the other hand, level 2 programs, or those with a clear but broad focus on social and emotional development, were significantly associated with modest decreases in externalizing behavior problems relative to control groups (ES=-.10 SD, p<.05). Hence, level 2 programs were significantly better at reducing externalizing behavior problems than level 1 programs (ES=-.23 SD, p<.01). Level 3 programs, or those that more intensively targeted children's social and emotional development, were associated with additional significant reductions in externalizing behavior problems relative to level 2 programs (ES=-.26 SD, p<.05). The most promising effects came from level 3 child social skills training programs, which reduced externalizing behavior problems half of a standard deviation more than level 2 programs (ES=-.50 SD, p<.05).

Reducing poverty through preschool interventions.

Greg Duncan, Jens Ludwig, and Katherine Magnuson explain how providing high-quality care to disadvantaged preschool children can help reduce poverty. In early childhood, they note, children's cognitive and socioemotional skills develop rapidly and are sensitive to "inputs" from parents, home learning environments, child care settings, and the health care system. The authors propose an intensive two-year, education-focused intervention for economically disadvantaged three- and four-year-olds. Classrooms would be staffed by college-trained teachers and have no more than six children per teacher. Instruction would be based on proven preschool academic and behavioral curricula and would be provided to children for three hours a day, with wraparound child care available to working parents. The authors estimate that the annual cost of the instructional portion of the program would be about $8,000, with child care adding up to another $4,000. The program would fully subsidize low-income children's participation; high-income parents would pay the full cost. The total cost of the proposal, net of current spending, would be $20 billion a year. Researchers have estimated that a few very intensive early childhood programs have generated benefits of as much as $8 to $14 for every $1 in cost. The authors think it unrealistic that a nationwide early education program could be equally socially profitable, but they estimate that their proposal would likely have benefits amounting to several times its cost. Some of the benefits would appear quickly in the form of less school retention and fewer special education classifications; others would show up later in the form of less crime and greater economic productivity. The authors estimate that their program would reduce the future poverty rates of participants by between 5 percent and 15 percent.

Can family socioeconomic resources account for racial and ethnic test score gaps?

This article considers whether the disparate socioeconomic circumstances of families in which white, black, and Hispanic children grow up account for the racial and ethnic gaps in school readiness among American preschoolers. It first reviews why family socioeconomic resources might matter for children's school readiness. The authors concentrate on four key components of parent socioeconomic status that are particularly relevant for children's well-being--income, education, family structure, and neighborhood conditions. They survey a range of relevant policies and programs that might help to close socioeconomic gaps, for example, by increasing family incomes or maternal educational attainment, strengthening families, and improving poor neighborhoods. Their survey of links between socioeconomic resources and test score gaps indicates that resource differences account for about half of the standard deviation-about 8 points on a test with a standard deviation of 15-of the differences. Yet, the policy implications of this are far from clear. They note that although policies are designed to improve aspects of "socioeconomic status" (for example, income, education, family structure), no policy improves "socioeconomic status" directly. Second, they caution that good policy is based on an understanding of causal relationships between family background and children outcomes, as well as cost-effectiveness. They conclude that boosting the family incomes of preschool children may be a promising intervention to reduce racial and ethnic school readiness gaps. However, given the lack of successful large-scale interventions, the authors suggest giving only a modest role to programs that address parents' socioeconomic resources. They suggest that policies that directly target children may be the most efficient way to narrow school readiness gaps.

Early childhood care and education: effects on ethnic and racial gaps in school readiness.

The authors examine black, white, and Hispanic children's differing experiences in early childhood care and education and explore links between these experiences and racial and ethnic gaps in school readiness. Children who attend center care or preschool programs enter school more ready to learn, but both the share of children enrolled in these programs and the quality of care they receive differ by race and ethnicity. Black children are more likely to attend preschool than white children, but may experience lower-quality care. Hispanic children are much less likely than white children to attend preschool. The types of preschool that children attend also differ. Both black and Hispanic children are more likely than white children to attend Head Start. Public funding of early childhood care and education, particularly Head Start, is already reducing ethnic and racial gaps in preschool attendance. The authors consider whether further increases in enrollment and improvements in quality would reduce school readiness gaps. They conclude that incremental changes in enrollment or quality will do little to narrow gaps. But substantial increases in Hispanic and black children's enrollment in preschool, alone or in combination with increases in preschool quality, have the potential to decrease school readiness gaps. Boosting enrollment of Hispanic children may be especially beneficial given their current low rates of enrollment. Policies that target low-income families (who are more likely to be black or Hispanic) also look promising. For example, making preschool enrollment universal for three- and four- year-old children in poverty and increasing the quality of care could close up to 20 percent of the black-white school readiness gap and up to 36 percent of the Hispanic-white gap.

Effects of earnings-supplement policies on adult economic and middle-childhood outcomes differ for the "hardest to employ".

Data from the Minnesota Family Investment Program and the New Hope demonstration were used to determine whether experimental effects of antipoverty policies differ by parents' risk for nonemployment. Using propensity score analysis, increases in employment and income were largest in the harder-to-employ halves of both samples. However, only children in the moderately hard-to-employ quartiles (50th to 75th percentile) consistently showed improvements in school and behavior outcomes. The very-hardest-to-employ 25% experienced decreases in school engagement, and increases in aggressive behaviors, despite substantial increases in parental employment and income. In this group, increases in maternal depression, reductions in regular family routines, and smaller increases in job stability and center-based child care occurred. These factors may have counteracted the potential benefits of increased income on children.