Document Tag: parenting students

Advancing Equity in Attainment for Black Single Mothers in College: Understanding Their Needs and Supporting Their Success (2024)

As part of its broader Student Parent
Success Initiative, IWPR conducted
original research focusing specifically on
Black single mother students. This report
summarizes findings from 25 interviews
IWPR conducted with Black single mother
community college students, consisting of
both students who were enrolled at the
time of the interview and those who had
been enrolled in the prior five years. These
interviews provide insight into how college
settings promote or inhibit the success of
Black single mother community college
students, how Black single mother students
engage with institutional resources, which
of these resources they find beneficial, and
how institutional resources can better serve
their needs.

Assessing Utilization and Accessibility of Public Cash Assistance Benefits among Postsecondary Students (Ahead of Print)

Low-income students struggle with resources while trying to achieve future financial stability. As colleges explore ways to support students, one solution is integration with public benefits. This study focuses on Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), a program that offers cash assistance to low-income adults with children. Statistical analysis of New Jersey data on applications from students (N = 1,064) is complemented by interviews with higher education experts (N = 6). Findings indicate that knowledge about the program is lacking. Among students who do apply, many either withdraw their application or do not complete the requirements. Findings offer recommendations to improve access for students.

Food Insecurity Among Community College Caregivers During the COVID-19 Pandemic (2024)

Objective: The purpose of this paper was to examine variables associated with food insecurity among community college caregivers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: We used data from a multi-institutional survey of 15,051 caregivers enrolled at 130 community colleges in 42 states in fall 2020. We used a logistic regression
to examine whether demographic, academic, caregiving-related, financial, or COVID19-related variables were associated with caregivers’ food insecurity. Results: Over half (52%) of community college caregivers experienced food insecurity. Transgender caregivers, first-generation caregivers, and caregivers who were divorced or single, had multiple disabilities, were previously in foster care, and had a family that experienced trouble making ends meet growing up had significantly (p<.05) higher probabilities of experiencing food insecurity. Community college caregivers who used childcare and those with at least one child up to 12years old also had increased probabilities of experiencing food insecurity. Moreover, caregivers who felt childcare was not affordable and believed that they did not earn enough money to make employment worthwhile after paying for childcare expenses had higher probabilities of experiencing food insecurity, as did those who experienced housing insecurity and used Pell grants, student loans, and support from friends or family to pay for college. Losing a job, experiencing cuts to work hours or wages, employment as a frontline worker, and contracting COVID were associated with higher probabilities of food insecurity. Contributions: Community college caregivers experienced high rates of food insecurity during the pandemic and some caregivers were at greater risk of exacerbated probabilities of food insecurity. We advocate for targeted interventions, wraparound services, and increased advocacy for legislation to support student caregivers.

Parenting Students and Indicators of Financial Stability, Health, and Academic Success: Findings from a Population-Based Sample of Public Urban University Students (2024)

Parenting students constitute a significant portion of the college population, with 22% of undergraduate students nationwide managing the dual responsibilities of parenthood and education. Single-parenting students face disproportionate challenges to achieving academic success. This study examines the health, financial, and academic aspects of parenting students attending a large, urban public university, specifically comparing single parents to their married or cohabiting counterparts and non-parenting students in New York City. We collected data from 2104 participants, including 142 single parents and 119 married or cohabiting parents, through a cross-sectional survey. Using adjusted regression models, we evaluated the associations between parenting status and financial, health, and academic factors. Our findings reveal that, in comparison to non-parents, single parents are significantly more likely to carry debt (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 1.81), rely on food assistance (aOR 5.03), and achieve slightly lower GPAs (β − 0.11). Single parents also work more hours (aOR 1.66) and have an increased likelihood of facing debt (aOR 2.66), housing difficulties (aOR 2.80), food insecurity (aOR 2.21), and lower GPAs (β − 0.22) compared to their married or cohabiting peers. The disaggregation of single and married or cohabiting parents reveals significant disparities, emphasizing the vulnerability of single-parenting students in higher education. Targeted interventions addressing issues like food security and housing are essential to support the academic success of single parents.

Three-Year Outcomes for Low-Income Parents of Young Children in a Two-Generation Education Program (2023)

Increasingly, parents of young children need postsecondary credentials to compete in the labor market and meet basic family needs. This study uses a quasi-experimental design to examine the effects of CareerAdvance, a two-generation education intervention that offers postsecondary career training in healthcare for parents paired with Head Start for children. Overall, we find that CareerAdvance promotes low-income parents’ educational advancement during the first three years after program entry, with weaker evidence of benefits to career progress and psychological wellbeing, and no evidence of economic gains. The two-generation program promotes greater educational and career advancement among parents without postsecondary credentials at baseline, than for parents who began the program with postsecondary credentials. In contrast, exploratory analyses suggest that parents entering the program with postsecondary credentials experienced benefits to some individual makers of economic and psychological wellbeing within three years.

Improving the education and wellbeing of student parents (2024)

Student parents, who make up approximately four million US undergraduates, are highly motivated to succeed in school but often face barriers to educational success due to logistical and financial constraints as well as mental health stressors. This randomized control trial examined the effectiveness of an education program centered in an adult workforce agency that was specifically designed to meet the needs of student parents and their families. Family-centered supportive services included coordinated parent-child schedules and childcare in addition to peer cohorts led by coaches, tuition-free courses, and additional financial assistance. Two hundred seventy-seven parents responded to online survey questions about their education and career, well-being, and parenting at baseline and approximately 1 year later (treatment n = 191, control n = 86). The racially and ethnically diverse pool of parents consisted mostly of low-income mothers aged 29 years on average who had a high school diploma or completed a General Educational Development (GED) program. After 1 year, parents in the education program were more likely to obtain at least a certificate or associate degree compared to control parents. These findings suggest that a family-focused approach is key to improving the educational success of student parents.

The Unique Agency of Parenting-Strivers: An AntiDeficit, Asset-Based Exploration of Black and Latinx Students with Children (2022)

Research, as well as mainstream culture, may be too quick to label parenting young people of color (which we define as being under or near the age of 20 when having a child) as delinquent and “at risk”. Using qualitative data, we offer anti-deficit framing surrounding students of color with children, highlighting the unique achievements of a set of “parent-strivers” despite the natural challenges of unexpectant parenthood. Our findings suggest that the parenting and academic identities of low-income people of color can be mutually beneficial and reinforced through positive schooling influences; we challenge the idea that education becomes a secondary priority after one becomes a parent. This paper answers the call for a better “articulation of agency” within exclusionary institutions. It contributes a rare acknowledgment of positive family outcomes to offset the concept of risk monopolizing the field and leaving us without support-oriented thinking.

Not by Bread Alone: Mothers’ Strategic Pursuit of Higher Education to Meet Basic Needs (2023)

Maslow’s theoretical hierarchy of needs suggests need fulfillment is ordered, where basic needs are at least partially satiated before more advanced needs may be pursued. The implication, then, is that an individual is motivated to fulfill their physiological needs before they can seek higher-level needs. Using interview data from 32 single mothers, this paper examines whether mothers—who need to fulfill their children’s basic needs—follow or deviate from the ordered direction of Maslow’s hierarchy. Findings show mothers’ motivations are social, not individual, as they strategically pursue higher education as a way to provide housing, food, and safety to their children—which inverts Maslow’s hierarchy. Mothers participate in The House of Educational Attainment (THEA), an organization that provides unilateral support, including apartments, to single parents as they pursue baccalaureate degrees. Support for more programs like THEA is needed if our national goal is for single mothers to achieve self-sufficiency.

Parenting Adult Learners’ Experiences in Higher Education (2023)

Pursuing postsecondary education is complicated for adult learners with children, also known as parenting adult learners (PALs). PALs must consider family expenses in addition to college expenses and make tough decisions about how to spend their time across their academic, work, and family responsibilities. Nonetheless, PALs are highly motivated, are resilient, and feel that earning a credential will improve the economic outlook for their family.
Despite the fact that PALs make up a sizable proportion of the postsecondary student population, their circumstances are often overlooked in postsecondary policies, programs, and practices. About one in three undergraduates in the United States are adult learners (i.e., 25 years old or older), and nearly half of these students have at least one dependent child.

At public 2-year colleges, four in 10 students are adult learners, and 46.5% of students have a dependent child. Yet adult learners and parenting students do not receive adequate support. This was especially evident during the pandemic, when many parents lost access to childcare, making it difficult for them to keep their jobs and attend their classes, particularly for mothers who were often the main, if not only, caretakers in the family. It is worth noting, however, that access to affordable, quality childcare and family-friendly spaces on campus was challenging prior to the pandemic and continues to be an obstacle for many. Even when childcare is available, its costs are not always accounted for in financial aid packages of adult learners.

Community Colleges and Human Services Nonprofits BOOSTing Family Economic Success Through Organizational Policy and Practice (2023)

The BOOST initiative connects families with low incomes to critical human services supports and educational and career pathways to advance multigenerational family economic success. In six cities — Baltimore, Maryland; Green Bay, Wisconsin; Hartford, Connecticut; New York City (Queens); Portland, Oregon; and Syracuse, New York— community colleges and human services nonprofits have partnered to support the economic advancement of families as part of the BOOST initiative. The partners at these BOOST sites are guided by six core tenets that advance family social and economic success: partnership, learning, lifetime and springboard jobs, sustainability, racial equity, and the two-generation (2Gen) approach, also sometimes referred to as the whole-family approach, as defined by Ascend at the Aspen Institute.
BOOST partnerships place a particular emphasis on racial equity—both the process and outcome of seeking to understand and address the programmatic, institutional, and policy barriers families of color face in higher education and human services systems. Over time, BOOST partners have deepened their understanding of systemic racism and how it influences individual and organizational thinking and are now shifting their organizational practices to support more equitable outcomes.
This brief explores how community colleges and human services nonprofits can partner to advance multigenerational family economic success and how these partners can lean into their unique strengths as they seek to achieve this goal. It looks at how the six BOOST sites are working to change policies and access funding at the institutional, state, and federal levels to support their partnership goals. It also highlights practices and insights learned from the BOOST initiative, with the intent of aiding and accelerating other efforts to follow this collaborative path.