Families In Economically Hard Times

The purpose of the edited collection Families in Economically Hard Times: Experiences and Coping Strategies in Europe is to provide readers with unique sociological knowledge on European families' experiences and behavioural strategies a decade after economic crisis of the 21st century.

The purpose of the edited collection Families in Economically Hard Times: Experiences and Coping Strategies in Europe is to provide readers with unique sociological knowledge on European families' experiences and behavioural strategies a decade after economic crisis of the 21st century.

Food is fundamental to health and social participation, yet food poverty has increased in the global North. Adopting a realist ontology and taking a comparative case approach, Families and Food in Hard Times addresses the global problem of economic retrenchment and how those most affected are those with the least resources. Based on research carried out with low-income families with children aged 11-15, this timely book examines food poverty in the UK, Portugal and Norway in the decade following the 2008 financial crisis. It examines the resources to which families have access in relation to public policies, local institutions and kinship and friendship networks, and how they intersect. Through ‘thick description’ of families’ everyday lives, it explores the ways in which low income impacts upon practices of household food provisioning, the types of formal and informal support on which families draw to get by, the provision and role of school meals in children’s lives, and the constraints upon families’ social participation involving food. Providing extensive and intensive knowledge concerning the conditions and experiences of low-income parents as they endeavour to feed their families, as well as children’s perspectives of food and eating in the context of low income, the book also draws on the European social science literature on food and families to shed light on the causes and consequences of food poverty in austerity Europe.

This book presents recent findings about the consequences and policy implications of economic stress for human capital development and family well-being in Asia. The scope of the chapters goes beyond the impact of current financial crisis to include the effect of economic deprivation families in Asia experience as a result of job loss, low-wage employment, and catastrophic natural calamities. The studies show how macro-level economic stress can filter down through households to affect individuals’ economic and socio-psychological well-being. The chapters reveal a wide spectrum of economic stresses experienced by families in Asia that is linked to poor human capital development, emotional distress, health problems, changing fertility patterns, more frequent geographic movement, and less supportive parenting behavior. The elderly, women, children, low-skilled workers are particularly vulnerable. The economic shocks in the past several decades have exposed the vulnerability of the family institution and the weaknesses in this region’s social protection system that can lead to detrimental long-term effects on human capital development. This book is relevant for researchers and students in fields such as Family Studies, Globalization, Development, Social Problems, Social Stratification, Social Inequalities, Poverty and Welfare, Education, and Social Policies.

Based on cross-national research carried out with low-income families with children aged 11-15, Families and Food in Hard Times examines food poverty in the UK, Portugal and Norway following the 2008 financial crisis.

The text of a hearing on American families is presented in this document. Comments by Representatives Patricia Schroeder, Bob McEwen, Michael Bilirakis, Frank Wolf, and Jim Bacchus, as well as Senator John D. Rockefeller, IV, are presented. Testimony and/or prepared statements and materials are included from these persons: (1) Gary L. Bauer, president, Family Research Council, Washington, D.C.; (2) David Blankenhorn, president, Institute for American Values, New York, New York; (3) Vincent Breglio, president, RSM, Inc., Lanham, Maryland; (4) Greg Duncan, program director, Survey Research Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan; (5) Donald Hernandez, chief, Marriage and Families Statistics Branch, Population Division, Bureau 20 of the Census, U.S. Department of Commerce, Washington, D.C.; (6) Celinda Lake, vice president, Greenberg-Lake, Washington, D.C.; (7) Thomas Plewes, Associate Commissioner for Employment and Unemployment Statistics, Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor; (8) Robert Rector, policy analyst for Family and Welfare Issues, The Heritage Foundation, Washington, D.C.; (9) Judith Weitz, KIDS COUNT Coordinator, the Center for the Study of Social Policy, Washington, D.C.; (10) Jason Zimbler, Nickelodeon Show "Clarissa Explains It All," New York, New York; (11) William Archer III, M.D.; and (12) Frances McNaught of the U.S. Department of Labor. (ABL)

With poverty, unemployment, and one-parent families on the rise in most Western democracies, government assistance presents an increasingly urgent and complex problem. This is the first study to explore Canada's family policies in an international context. Maureen Baker looks at the successes and failures of social programs in other countries in search of solutions that might work in Canada. Baker has chosen seven industrialized countries for her comparative study: Australia, France, Germany, The Netherlands, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States. These countries experience social and economic strains similar to those felt in Canada, and though they share certain policy solutions, major differences in policy remain. Baker considers which of the policies in these countries are most effective in reducing poverty, enhancing family life, and improving the status of women, then applies her findings to the Canadian situation. Bringing together research and statistics from the fields of demography, political science, economics, sociology, women's studies, and social policy, this rich, multidisciplinary study provides a unique resource for anyone interested in Canadian family policy.