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ASSETS AND THE EMOTIONAL HEALTH OF LOW-INCOME PARENTS WITH YOUNG CHILDREN
Wittman, LeAnn
Wittman, LeAnn
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Abstract
Assets accumulation is increasingly difficult for low-income families that have fewer institutional supports for saving and asset building. The low-income families that do save in asset-building programs often contribute small amounts and do not take full advantage of the dollar match amounts. Few studies address parental well-being in the current asset effects literature. This dissertation examines relationships between the emotional health of low-income parents and household resources, specifically household income and asset ownership. I analyze secondary data to determine the effect of assets, controlling for income, on the emotional health of low-income parents with preschool children. 681 respondents participated in telephone surveys in 2004 and 2008. Assets were measured by homeownership and/or types of savings, and parental emotional health was measured by self-mastery and depression. Multiple regression was used to analyze variables iteratively. Controlling for the appropriate parental emotional health and income measures, assets are significantly associated with parental emotional health in 5 of 30 multivariate models. The savings amount is significantly associated with parental self-mastery when controlling for self-mastery and income, regardless of which income measurement was included. The savings amount was negatively associated with parental depression when controlling income from public assistance. The assets; homeownership, savings account, and retirement account were not significantly associated with parental emotional health. Findings suggest that parental emotional health measured by depression differs much from self-mastery. Income and assets are differentially related to parental self-mastery and depression. Implications call for specificity in emotional health measures and inclusion of other household resources in asset effects research.
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Date
2014-01-01
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University of Kansas
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This item contains archived web content.
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Wittman_ku_0099D_13806_DATA_1.pdf
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- Embargoed until 2164-05-31
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Keywords
Social work, Asset building, Assets, Depression, Homeownership, Savings, Self-Mastery