Introduction
Four major issues influence the welfare of children in society. They include family status and process, family formations, father involvement, and capital. The family status and process are determined by issues such as the mother’s employment and age, family structure, parenting, and parent-child relations. Family formations include matters such as children raised by gay and lesbian parents. Father involvement comprises paternal social interactions and economic contributions. The capital at home or school comprises human, social, and economic issues.
Family Status and Process
The wellbeing of children is determined by maternal employment, maternal age, and family structure. If the mothers participate in the workforce, they bring about positive adolescent outcomes. However, their involvement in nonstandard work schedules offsets such benefits. For instance, nonstandard work gives rise to socio-emotional problems among the children of low-income families. In the case of teen mothers, their children can perform poorly on academic, psychological, and social scopes. On the other hand, if the mothers are older, their children can inherit more economic resources than those of teen mothers. When children are raised in families that experience transitions, they are likely to encounter behavioral problems throughout their childhood stages (Crosnoe & Cavanagh 595-96).
The wellbeing of children is also determined by parenting and parent-child relations. Positive parenting influences the way teenagers disclose information to their parents. Adolescents can disclose or hide certain information from their parents depending on the existing nature of the parent-child dialogue. If parents nurture a strong sense of family obligations among their children, it brings socio-emotional benefits but ties them physically to their homes as they grow older. Also, if parents support the psychological autonomy of their children, it can bring more academic benefits (Crosnoe & Cavanagh 599-600).
Gay and Lesbian Parenting
The children of gay and lesbian parents balance their truth and safety when presenting their families to others because they fear becoming subjected to the effects of homophobia. Such children are concerned about the possibility of their family background becoming the target of harassment, teasing, and exclusion. Also, older adolescents from such families are enigmatic about describing their parents to others. Although they are secretive about their social lives, such children do not seem to be ridiculed or bullied compared to their peers. Also, they do not appear to be susceptible to relationship difficulties (Tasker & Patterson 19-20).
The children brought up by non-heterosexual parents are faced with three major developmental issues in their lives. They include sexual identity, self-esteem, and social relationships. The development of gender identity among such children follows the expected trend found in all children. Their gender-role behaviors also fall within the ordinary limits of predictable sex roles. Also, unlike their parents, most of those children are heterosexual (Tasker & Patterson 22-23).
Father Involvement
The roles of fathers in child wellbeing depend on ethnicity, education, income, age, and residence. Nonminority fathers differ from their minority counterparts in the way they involve themselves with their children. For instance, African American fathers are more likely to perform child-care tasks. Also, African American non-resident fathers are more likely to contribute to childrearing decisions compared with White and Hispanic fathers.
Highly educated fathers engage more positively with their school-age children than low educated ones. Fathers with high incomes have more positive father-child engagement among children aged 5 to 18. In addition, older and highly educated fathers are highly involved with their children. Thus, it is poverty that reduces the behavioral and emotional engrossment of fathers with their children (Castillo, Welch, & Sarver 1343).
Fathers who live with their children’s mothers and are romantically involved with them are more likely to be involved with their children over time compared with non-resident fathers who are not romantically involved. Also, nonresident fathers who visit their children frequently are more likely to accept parenting duties and become engaged with their children than non-resident fathers who visit less frequently (Castillo, Welch, & Sarver 1344).
Capital at Home and School
All types of capital influence child academic achievement. For example, children who have access to higher levels of maternal mental abilities and caring teachers achieve more in school. Conversely, children who lack capital resources because of scarcities related to their family structures have low academic achievements. In brief, social capital at home and school have significant effects on academic achievement (Parcel, Dufur & Zito 833-34).
Student-teacher bonding at school counterbalances the effects of parent-adolescent emotional distance. If parents participate in school guidance programs, they can compensate for their lower levels of education. Such activities promote children’s enrollment in postsecondary institutions (Parcel, Dufur & Zito 834-35).
The financial capital of the parent and prior child achievement can explain the effects of other forms of capital. Also, high parental social capital can compensate for lower financial capital in promoting child achievement. Although each type of capital influences behavior problems, the family capital exerts stronger effects than school capital (Parcel, Dufur, & Zito 834-35).
In conclusion, the four major issues affecting the welfare of children end up influencing their social lives. For instance, children brought up by gay parents are socially secretive because of perceived bullying or stigma. In another case, the children brought up in families facing transitions are likely to encounter behavioral problems throughout their lives.
Works Cited
Castillo, Jason, Welch, Greg, and Christian Sarver. “Fathering: The Relationship between Fathers’ Residence, Fathers’ Sociodemographic Characteristics, and Father Involvement.” Matern Child Health J (2011) 15:1342–1349. Print.
Crosnoe, Robert and Shannon E. Cavanagh. “Families With Children and Adolescents: A Review, Critique, and Future Agenda.” Journal of Marriage and Family. 72 (2010): 594-611. Print.
Parcel, L. Toby, Dufur, J. Mikaela, and Rena C. Zito. “Capital at Home and at School: A Review and Synthesis.” Journal of Marriage and Family 72 (2010): 828-846. Print.
Tasker, Fiona and Charlotte J. Patterson. “Research on Gay and Lesbian Parenting: Retrospect and Prospect.” Journal of GLBT Family Studies, 3:2-3, (2007): 9-34. Print.