The purpose of the study is to identify the factors that influence the reproductive behavior of young Russian families (heterosexual families consisting of two persons below the age of 35 with or ...without children). The analysis relies on the results of a mass questionnaire survey of young first-time married people (n = 893) conducted in 10 Russian regions in 2019–2020, in-depth interviews with young married people (n = 50) and an expert survey of managers and specialists working for social non-profits (n = 10), both conducted in 2021. Based on the data of the mass survey, we found that there are differences in the values of young families with children and without children. Moreover, young couples may choose to postpone childbearing not only for financial reasons but also because of their marital attitudes and reproductive strategies formed in the process of socialization. Marital behavior has a great influence on reproductive behavior. The differences in the respondents' attitudes to parenthood are determined by their gender roles, experience of having and raising children or absence of such experience. We found that state social support does not have a significant impact on the reproductive behavior of young families in Russia. Expert assessments show that the current measures of social support for young families do not cover all the needs of these families and that there is a perceived need for a more comprehensive assistance model.
In many postindustrial cities in the Global North, increasing families seem to choose to stay in the city rather than move to the suburbs. This might imply that residential preferences of young ...families shift from suburban to more urban. In this paper, the moving behaviour of young families in the four largest cities in the Netherlands is analysed. The moving behaviour is measured with register data and analysed with the Oaxaca‐Blinder decomposition technique and with logistic regression techniques. The results show that young families broken down by residential biography and income have very different moving behaviours in their choice for staying in the city or moving to the region around the city. The changes in the outmigration of young families from the city to the region are not necessarily related to changing residential preferences, but more related to changes in the composition within the group of young families. The growth of higher‐income families in cities seem to be primarily explained by the changing composition of city dwellers before family formation and not so much by a more urban orientation in their moving behaviour. Changes in moving patterns through time and the differences between the four cities seem to be related to the differences in the urban economy and housing supply. Especially in Amsterdam, the lack of larger family home drives young families to the suburbs. When cities and suburban regions want to be attractive for young families, the size of the available dwellings is the most important aspect.
•Young vulnerable parents appreciate care providers who ‘go above and beyond’.•Young vulnerable parents can be keen to learn and develop parenting skills.•Supportive care in pregnancy and early years ...improves young parents’ mental health.•Peer support can be a valuable adjunct to group-based parenting support programmes.
Young families, in which the parents are aged 16–24, require support in order to reduce health and social inequalities for themselves and their children. It is even more vital for young parents who have experienced Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). Health organisations, policy makers and heath care professionals often recommend that this support is best started before the birth of the children. An early intervention multi-agency project aimed at providing such support and offsetting social inequalities was initiated in a coastal city in Wales, UK. This paper reports on one phase of a year-long mixed methods study into the work of the multi-agency project (the pseudonym for the project, for the purposes of this paper is ‘MAP’). We draw on findings from four Focus Groups and participant observation with services users (n-18) and analyse their experiences of being involved in MAP. This phase of a wider study was co-produced as it was devised and overseen by a research development and delivery group including staff members, service users and the research team. The role of the group was to devise the research study, to monitor its progress and to contribute to the analysis of the data. Data were analysed thematically and the findings demonstrated that the staff helped the young people in various ways, for example learning parenting skills. However, in addition to the skills that MAP staff helped service users to develop, we suggest that other previously unintended aims proved to be of great value. These included building friendships, improving mental health and gaining access to financial support. In this paper we argue that MAP was therefore found to be beneficial in expected and unexpected ways, due to the efforts and working relationships of the multi-agency staff and the services they offered. We suggest that this form of multi-disciplinary working serves to challenge health and social inequalities experiences by young parents. We advocate further development of similar services.
In the near future, the vertical dimension of housing will become increasingly important. But high-rise housing is still being seen as not only inconvenient but also as inappropriate for young family ...households. This article aims to contribute to the vertical turn in the urbanism debate from a family point of view. The focus is on large western-industrialized cities. This literature-based article consists of two parts. The first part starts with the deconstructing of families’ position in urban high-rises. It is argued that young families have an “uneasy” relationship with urban high-rises due to the neglected presence of children. The dichotomous ways in which we define children and cities ultimately define city children and vertical living families as out-of-place. The second part of the article searches for ways to reconstruct families’ relationships with high-rises. Based on an analysis of the literature, problems of vertical family living are identified, and possible solutions are discussed on both the geographical scale level of the apartment and the building. The summarized conclusion from the literature is that vertical apartment living and happy family life are not necessarily at odds. The building of family-inclusive high-rises is both in the benefit of urban-oriented families and cities.
Young families, as viewed through a multi-generational lens, provide the environment in which children can be nurtured and socialised. The purpose of the research is to explore and describe how the ...parents and grandparents of young families appreciate their family life. A qualitative, exploratory, descriptive and contextual multiple case study design was used to conduct the study. Purposive sampling methods were applied to select families according to the sampling criteria, each family representing an individual case study. Appreciative inquiry interviews were conducted with the young parents and available grandparents, during which the participants were asked four open-ended questions. Data collection was enriched by means of reflective letters to participants, collages created by the young parents, and the researcher's field notes and journal inscriptions. The data collected from each individual case study was analysed and then synthesised by means of a cross-case analysis. A cross-case validation report was compiled. The themes and categories that emerged from the data were discussed. The research study concluded that when young families embarked on a journey of discovering their strengths and potential in the larger family system, they creatively envision and discovered the possibilities to transform their destiny in a purposeful and constructive way.
Children of young and socially disadvantaged parents are more likely to experience adverse outcomes. In response to this, a unique young families’ project in Swansea, UK, was created, which drew ...together a team of multi‐agency professionals, to support people aged 16–24 from 17 weeks of pregnancy throughout 1,001 days of the child's life. The aim of the JIGSO (the Welsh word for Jigsaw) project is for young people to reach their potential as parents and to break the cycle of health and social inequality. This evaluation analysed routinely collected data held by the project from January 2017 to December 2018 exploring health and social outcomes, including smoking and alcohol use in pregnancy, breastfeeding, maternal diet and social services outcomes. Outcomes were compared to local and national averages, where available. Data relating to parenting knowledge and skills were available via records of 10‐point Likert scales, one collected at the start of the JIGSO involvement and one around 4–6 months later. Findings showed higher than average levels of breastfeeding initiation and lower smoking and alcohol use in pregnancy. Parents also reported enhanced knowledge and confidence in their child care skills, as well as improved family relationships. Parents with high levels of engagement with JIGSO also appeared to have positive outcomes with Social Services (their child's name was removed from child protection register or their case was closed to social services). This was a post‐hoc evaluation, not an intervention study or trial, and thus findings must be interpreted with caution. Despite this, the findings are promising and more prospective research exploring similar services is required.
Introduction
The Pregnancy Assistance Fund (PAF) program funds states and tribes to provide a wide range of services to improve health, social, educational, and economic outcomes for expectant and ...parenting teens and young adults, their children, and their families. This introductory article to the
Maternal and Child Health Journal
supplement
Supporting Expectant and Parenting Teens: The Pregnancy Assistance Fund
provides a description of the PAF program, including the program goals and structure, participants and communities served, and services provided; presents data on the reach and success of the program; and describes lessons learned from PAF grantees on how to enhance programs and services to have the best outcomes for expectant and parenting young families.
Methods
Performance measure data are used to describe the reach and success of the PAF program, and implementation experiences and lessons learned from PAF grantees were gathered through a standardized review of grantee applications and from interviews with grant administrators.
Results
Since its establishment in 2010, the PAF program has served 109,661 expectant and parenting teens, young adults, and their families across 32 states, including the District of Columbia, and seven tribal organizations; established more than 3400 partnerships; and trained more than 7500 professionals. Expectant and parenting teens and young adults who participated in the PAF program stay in high school, make plans to attend college, and have low rates of repeat pregnancy within a year.
Conclusions
Expectant and parenting teens and young adults in the PAF program demonstrated success in meeting their educational goals and preventing repeat unintended pregnancies. In addition, the staff who implemented the PAF programs learned many lessons for how to enhance programs and services to have the best outcomes for expectant and parenting young families, including creating partnerships to meet the multifaceted needs of teen parents and using evidence-based programs to promote program sustainability.
Introduction
Programs supporting adolescent parents have been shown to increase socio-economic opportunities and promote healthy child development for young families, but retaining young parents is ...challenging. The Massachusetts Pregnant and Parenting Teen Initiative (MPPTI) offers case management and linkages to community and clinical services to young families. We examine engagement strategies identified by MPPTI participants and staff members in relation to participant retention by program site to identify potential strategies for increasing program engagement.
Methods
We employed a mixed-methods approach incorporating quantitative data on program participant characteristics and program retention by site with qualitative data from staff and participant interviews and focus groups.
Results
Key program engagement strategies identified by both MPPTI staff and youth participants were social-emotional supports, staffing model, and concrete supports. We found significant differences in program retention by site; the two sites with the highest levels of program retention offered all engagement strategies identified.
Discussion
Quantitative data on program retention coupled with qualitative data from staff and youth interviews suggests that in our program, there may be an association between the engagement strategies identified and levels of program retention.
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