Assessing the effects of a work-based antipoverty program for parents on youth's future orientation and employment experiences.

The impacts of New Hope, a 3-year work-based antipoverty program to increase parent employment and reduce poverty, on youth ages 9-19 (N = 866) were assessed 5 years after parents left the program. New Hope had positive effects on the future orientation and employment experiences of boys, especially African American boys. Compared to boys in control group families, boys in program group families were less cynical about work, less pessimistic about their employment prospects, and more involved in employment and career preparation. They also worked for longer periods during the school year than did control group boys. Comparable effects were not found for girls. The developmental significance of the findings, possible processes that led to the impacts, and the policy implications of the findings are discussed.

[1]  Ann C. Crouter,et al.  "Preface" to Pathways Through Adolescence: Individual Development in Relation to Social Contexts , 2014 .

[2]  H. Holzer.  The Labor Market and Young Black Men: Updating Moynihan's Perspective , 2009 .

[3]  Bernadette Sánchez,et al.  Natural mentoring under the microscope: an investigation of mentoring relationships and latino adolescents' academic performance , 2008 .

[4]  M. Greenberg.  Next Steps for Federal Child Care Policy , 2007, The Future of children.

[5]  G. Berlin.  Rewarding the Work of Individuals: A Counterintuitive Approach to Reducing Poverty and Strengthening Families , 2007, The Future of children.

[6]  A. Weil.  A Health Plan to Reduce Poverty , 2007, The Future of children.

[7]  J. Bauermeister,et al.  Working in High School and Adaptation in the Transition to Young Adulthood among African American Youth , 2007 .

[8]  V. Mcloyd,et al.  Childhood Poverty, Policy, and Practice , 2007 .

[9]  K. Harris,et al.  Immigrant Youth in the Labor Market , 2007 .

[10]  D. Blustein,et al.  Vocational Hope and Vocational Identity: Urban Adolescents’ Career Development , 2007 .

[11]  T. Weisner,et al.  Higher Ground: New Hope for the Working Poor and Their Children , 2007 .

[12]  J. Mortimer,et al.  Adolescent Work, Vocational Development, and Education , 2006, Review of educational research.

[13]  K. Cortina,et al.  Adolescents' thoughts about parents' jobs and their importance for adolescents' future orientation. , 2006, Journal of adolescence.

[14]  Greg J Duncan,et al.  Impacts on children of a policy to promote employment and reduce poverty for low-income parents: new hope after 5 years. , 2005, Developmental psychology.

[15]  Jacquelynne S. Eccles,et al.  Organized activities as contexts of development : extracurricular activities, after-school, and community programs , 2005 .

[16]  R. Seginer,et al.  How adolescents construct their future: the effect of loneliness on future orientation. , 2004, Journal of adolescence.

[17]  Greg J. Duncan,et al.  How Welfare Policies Affect Adolescents' School Outcomes: A Synthesis of Evidence From Experimental Studies , 2004 .

[18]  R. Seginer,et al.  The indirect link between perceived parenting and adolescent future orientation: A multiple-step model , 2004 .

[19]  M. Johnson.  Further Evidence on Adolescent Employment and Substance Use: Differences by Race and Ethnicity∗ , 2004, Journal of health and social behavior.

[20]  Jodie L. Roth.  Youth Development Programs. , 2004 .

[21]  J. Kerpelman,et al.  Rural African American Adolescents' Future Orientation: The Importance of Self-Efficacy, Control and Responsibility, and Identity Development , 2004 .

[22]  B. Fuller,et al.  Child Care in Poor Communities: Early Learning Effects of Type, Quality, and Stability , 2003, Child development.

[23]  T. Weisner,et al.  New Hope for Families and Children: Five-Year Results of a Program To Reduce Poverty and Reform Welfare. Summary Report. , 2003 .

[24]  L. S. Liben,et al.  Race and the workforce: occupational status, aspirations, and stereotyping among African American children. , 2003, Developmental psychology.

[25]  J. Kemple,et al.  The effects of a time-limited welfare program on children: the moderating role of parents' risk of welfare dependency. , 2003, Child development.

[26]  Susan D. Phillips,et al.  Preparation for the School-to-Work Transition: The Views of High School Students , 2002 .

[27]  J. Rhodes,et al.  African American Adolescent Mothers' Vocational Aspiration-Expectation Gap: Individual, Social and Environmental Influences , 2002 .

[28]  J. Schafer,et al.  Missing data: our view of the state of the art. , 2002, Psychological methods.

[29]  J. Brooks-Gunn,et al.  Adolescent Transitions to Young Adulthood: Antecedents, Correlates, and Consequences of Adolescent Employment , 2001 .

[30]  G. Duncan,et al.  How Welfare and Work Policies Affect Children: A Synthesis of Research. , 2001 .

[31]  David S. Johnson,et al.  Teenagers: employment and contributions to family spending , 2000 .

[32]  D. Entwisle,et al.  Early Work Histories of Urban Youth , 2000, American Sociological Review.

[33]  Greg J. Duncan,et al.  New Hope for People with Low Incomes: Two-Year Results of a Program To Reduce Poverty and Reform Welfare. , 1999 .

[34]  J. Kemple,et al.  Career Academies: Building Career Awareness and Work-Based Learning Activities through Employer Partnerships. , 1999 .

[35]  Katherine S. Newman,et al.  No Shame in My Game: The Working Poor in the Inner City , 1999 .

[36]  B. Rankin,et al.  Neighborhood Poverty, Family Characteristics, and Commitment to Mainstream Goals , 1998 .

[37]  Greg J. Duncan,et al.  How much does childhood poverty affect the life chances of children , 1998 .

[38]  T. Cook,et al.  The development of occupational aspirations and expectations among inner-city boys. , 1996, Child development.

[39]  M. Shanahan,et al.  Adolescent paid labor and relationships with parents: early work-family linkages. , 1996, Child development.

[40]  K. Dodge,et al.  Social information-processing mechanisms in reactive and proactive aggression. , 1996, Child development.

[41]  J. Mortimer,et al.  The effects of work intensity on adolescent mental health, achievement, and behavioral adjustment: new evidence from a prospective study. , 1996, Child development.

[42]  William Julius Wilson,et al.  When Work Disappears: New Implications for Race and Urban Poverty in the Global Economy , 1998, Celebrating 40 Years of Ethnic and Racial Studies.

[43]  C. Ruhm.  Is High School Employment Consumption or Investment? , 1994, Journal of Labor Economics.

[44]  K. O’Regan,et al.  Teenage Employment and the Spatial Isolation of Minority and Poverty Households , 2004 .

[45]  P. Wyman,et al.  The role of children's future expectations in self-system functioning and adjustment to life stress: A prospective study of urban at-risk children , 1993, Development and Psychopathology.

[46]  A. Pickles,et al.  Partners, peers, and pathways: Assortative pairing and continuities in conduct disorder , 1993, Development and Psychopathology.

[47]  P. Wyman,et al.  Interviews with children who experienced major life stress: family and child attributes that predict resilient outcomes. , 1992, Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

[48]  H. Marsh.  Employment during high school: Character building or a subversion of academic goals? , 1991 .

[49]  J. Nurmi.  How do adolescents see their future? A review of the development of future orientation and planning , 1991 .

[50]  J. Clausen,et al.  Adolescent Competence and the Shaping of the Life Course , 1991, American Journal of Sociology.

[51]  J. Stone,et al.  Quality of Students' Work Experience and Orientation toward Work , 1990 .

[52]  C. Flanagan.  Families and schools in hard times. , 1990, New directions for child development.

[53]  L. Schorr,et al.  Within Our Reach: Breaking the Cycle of Disadvantage , 1989 .

[54]  K. Eyferth,et al.  Development As Action in Context: Problem Behavior and Normal Youth Development , 1986 .

[55]  N. Goodban.  The Psychological Impact of Being on Welfare , 1985, Social Service Review.

[56]  J. Larson.  The Effect of Husband's Unemployment on Marital and Family Relations in Blue-Collar Families. , 1984 .

[57]  A. Huston,et al.  Long-Term Effects of New Hope on Children's Academic Achievement and Achievement Motivation , 2008 .

[58]  G. Duncan,et al.  New Hope's Eight-Year Impacts on Employment and Family Income , 2008 .

[59]  H. Holzer.  Reconnecting Disadvantaged Young Men , 2006 .

[60]  Jari-Erik Nurmi,et al.  Thinking About and Acting Upon the Future: Development of Future Orientation Across the Life Span. , 2005 .

[61]  P. Morris,et al.  The effects of time limits and make-work-pay strategies on the well-being of children: Experimental evidence from two welfare reform programs , 2003 .

[62]  David M. Engstrom,et al.  The 1996 welfare law: key elements and reauthorization issues affecting children. , 2002, The Future of children.

[63]  John Van Hoewyk,et al.  A multivariate technique for multiply imputing missing values using a sequence of regression models , 2001 .

[64]  Rosella M. Gardecki.  Racial Differences in Youth Employment. , 2001 .

[65]  Rashmita S. Mistry,et al.  Work-based antipoverty programs for parents can enhance the school performance and social behavior of children. , 2001, Child development.

[66]  M. Lamb.  Nonparental Child Care: Context, Quality, Correlates and Consequences. , 1998 .

[67]  W. Wilson,et al.  Book Review: When Work Disappears: The World of the New Urban Poor , 1997 .

[68]  K. Allison,et al.  Social context and adolescence: Perspectives on development among inner-city African-American teens. , 1995 .

[69]  Mercer L. Sullivan,et al.  "Getting Paid": Youth Crime and Work in the Inner City , 1989 .

[70]  J. Macleod,et al.  Ain't no makin' it: Leveled aspirations in a low-income neighborhood , 1987 .

[71]  G. Trommsdorff.  Future Time Orientation and Its Relevance for Development as Action , 1986 .

[72]  H. White.  Maximum Likelihood Estimation of Misspecified Models , 1982 .

[73]  P. J. Huber.  The behavior of maximum likelihood estimates under nonstandard conditions , 1967 .