2.1 Families
The parental role is nested within social norms and within economic and political realities that shape community support” (Clinton, 2020, p. 1).
Family experiences are a young child’s most potent experiences. Families mediate a child’s contact with other environments. Parents and other primary caregivers and the home environment are the most powerful and long-lasting influence in the lives of young children.
The structure of families and the roles and responsibilities of family members are influenced by changing economic, social conditions and what is valued by a society. The makeup of families is constantly changing. The late Alan Mirabelli, former executive director of the Vanier Institute of the Family, discusses the history of family structure.
How does the makeup of families today differ from that of families in the past?
Think about your grandparents’ families. What is similar and different from your own family?
What are the economic factors and social conditions that influence families today?
Mirabelli wrote an article on the definition of family. You can read it below.
Families come in all shapes and sizes. There is not one universal definition of family. The Vanier Institute of the Family provides a broad explanation of families that is inclusive, focuses on what families do, and shows the importance of relationships.
When you think of families today, what do they look like?
Who belongs to a family?
What roles and responsibilities do each member possess?
Consider…
Josef lives with his mother and auntie. Aisha lives with her father, step-mother and older brother. Every other weekend she visits her mother, step-dad and two older step-sisters…Read more
Sometimes, images of family represented in early childhood programs can exclude children by not representing their family situation. Can you give some examples?
What does ‘family’ mean to you? What is your image of family?
What are some ways to organize the environment in early childhood programs so that all families are respected?
The Vanier Institute of the Family documents family life in Canada. Its research program maintains an up-to-date database on family trends and issues. It provides policy analysis of the strengths of Canadian families as well as the social, economic and cultural challenges facing families. Explore the following links to learn more about family diversity in Canada.
Were you surprised by any of the data about the diversity of families?
Did you see any practical implications for the work you do?
Legalization of same-sex marriage across Canada was accompanied by an increase in parents who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender. Dr. Zeenat Janmohamed, Executive Director and Senior Policy Analyst at the Atkinson Centre, studied how early childhood educators responded to same-sex parents.
Do you think Canadian society has moved beyond the assumption that nearly all families are married heterosexual couples with children?
Can you think of practices in early childhood programs that exclude same-sex parent families?
Families and work
Jody Heymann (2006) describes three factors that have led to a major transformation of family life over the past 50 years: 1) increased participation by both men and women in the formal labour force, 2) increasing urbanization, and 3) economic globalization (p. 6).
What does this mean for young children? How has this impacted parents’ ability to care for their children? According to a report in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Family Database, “on average across OECD countries, 61% of children live in households where all adults are in work” (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2019, p. 2).
It is important to consider – who is caring for the young children?
Who would you say provides the majority of care for preschool children of parents who work for pay in your context?
What is being done in your region to address the needs of childcare for preschool children, both in the public and private sectors?
Families living in poverty face increased barriers to providing safe and healthy environments for their children. For example, homes may be small and overcrowded, sanitation may be challenging, adults may have to leave children in order earn a living or there may be violence in the community. However, as discussed in the Developmental Health Module (p. 1.2), poverty is complex and multifaceted and the quality of children’s day to day experience must be taken into account. One certainty is that while poverty does impact the children’s daily life, the quality of the nurturant environment that families provide is a key factor in supporting children’s resilience. What families do everyday – for example, holding children, talking with them, singing and providing warm, loving care – provides important nurturant stimulation that children need.
Finding quality child care for children is one type of stressor parents face when their children are young. But what about other stressors and the possible impacts on family functioning? How does family-level stress impact children’s development? In the next reading, a variety of family stressors are identified along with potential intervention strategies.
How can family-level stress impact children?
What factors can help lessen the adverse impact of stressors on a family?
What social supports can help families under high-stress conditions? What are the challenges to providing social supports?
In Canada, the majority of mothers and fathers with young children are working for pay or studying. Since the 1970s, the number of women (whose youngest child was under six) in the paid labour force has increased from 35.6% in 1976 to 73.3 percent in 2016 (Canadian Institute of Child Health, 2021). Have a look at this chart to see how the rates have changed over the years.
Dr. Susan Prentice, a University of Manitoba professor with expertise in social and family policy, discusses how the lack of a national child care system in Canada creates problems for families, especially for mothers.
Lack of child care is not only a Canadian issue. The next report from the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) discusses the lack of adequate early childhood care and learning programs around the world and explores the impact this has on children, mothers and grandmothers. Read the executive summary.
What do employment trends mean for young children?
How do families you know deal with child care? Is it a challenge or easily available?
What do you think is our societal responsibility to working parents and their children?
Family resources
Living in poverty during early childhood increases the probability of exposure to developmental risk factors, making children particularly vulnerable to problems associated with poverty. Poverty in early childhood is associated with fewer resources including income, housing and parental time and more stress within families. Children in poor families often have less access to quality early childhood programs and other developmental resources.
In the next video, Dr. David Butler-Jones, Canada’s former Chief Public Health Officer, discusses some of the challenges families receiving social assistance face in Canada.
Butler-Jones give two very practical examples of how social policy was changed for poor families in Saskatchewan. Considering parental stress, child health, economic hardship and so forth, how do you think these changes may have affected the lives of young children?
Supporting families
There is no doubt that children have a special relationship with the adults who care for them, often their parents. But what if these adults themselves are struggling, or facing challenges?
In the next clip, Dr. Leslie Roos explores the importance of understanding and supporting parents, as “kids thrive, when adults thrive”. Dr. Roos and Dr. Ryan Giuliano are the principal investigators of the Heart and Minds Lab at the University of Manitoba. Listen to Dr. Roos describe the focus of their lab.
Learn more about the Hearts and Minds Lab
Dr. Jennifer Jenkins, at the University of Toronto, explains that we have research evidence about how to support families who are experiencing difficulties with their children.
The following Bulletin from Abilio reviews research on the parenting practices and effective programs that promote positive parenting. Abilio is formerly known as the Centre of Excellence for Early Childhood Development (CEECD) and the Centre de Psycho-Éducation du Québec (CPEQ).
In your community, are there supports or programs in place to help parents developing secure, caring relationships with their young children?
Do you have other ideas of ways to help parents to develop and maintain caring relationships?
Home visiting
Home visiting programs have expanded across Canada over the past two decades. Most are tied to a universal screen and visit at birth. Families who are identified at risk are offered home visiting aimed at supporting parenting practices.
Home visiting programs vary dramatically in their underlying theoretical models, the characteristics of target families, the number and intensity of visits prescribed, the duration of the program, the curriculum and approaches and the degree to which they are specifically described in a manual, the fidelity of program implementation, and the background and training of visitors.
With so many variables involved, it is no surprise that the effects of home visiting programs have also been variable. Several reviews have concluded that home visiting can be an effective strategy to promote health and development outcomes of children from socially disadvantaged families, while other studies have reported no impact. Even when parent behaviour is altered, improvements in child outcomes are not always seen.
The Encyclopedia on Early Child Development provides an overview of home visiting programs. Choose one (or more) of the articles to learn what research has demonstrated related to the effects of home visiting programs on outcomes related to school readiness and social and emotional development.
Do you know what home visiting programs are offered to new parents in your region?
How could home visiting join up with early childhood programs to better meet the needs of families with young children?
What kind of benefits should we expect to see from home visiting?
