Tomorrow, we will take up finances and poverty as sources of family stress.

One thing we'll go over is this article about spouses' materialism and marital quality (the article mentions the research contributions of a Texas Tech graduate student whom I know) . The finding of this research, which supports the role of perception/appraisal as in the ABC-X model, is that attitudes toward money and material goods are important, not just the actual amount of money a couple has.

Another article that offers some "food for thought" is this one about Oregon governor Ted Kulongoski. In his effort to draw attention to hunger in his state and beyond, the governor earlier this year spent a week on a $21 food budget (the average weekly food-stamp allocation in his state).

While we were discussing the Kulongoski story, I was reminded of the study of Chicago “Food Deserts” (areas with no nearby supermarkets, but plentiful fast food places) and the apparent health implications of these geographic factors.

The second part of the class will be devoted to a discussion of the readings on work-family balance and economic stress. In particular, the section in Chapter 9 from the bottom of page 209 to the top of 211 seems to fit well with a systems-theory approach. The questions, from Group B, will be posted as they come in...

This chapter talks about how economic stress can impact the function of families. On page 211 the author lists several resources that buffer ethnic minority groups against economic stress. Drawing from our discussion about generational dissonance, how might that affect a family's ability to handle economic stress? Are there any buffers against generational dissonance?

The book says that although minorities have an economic disadvantage, "ethnic minorities also have resources, such as particular family structures, family dynamics, value systems, and child rearing practices, that traditionally have served as buffers against economic stress" (Bartholomae & Fox, p.211). Although this may be true, do you feel that there is a great advantage when minorities are surrounded by other minorities who also experience economic disadvantage? Or would it be beneficial if minorities are by others who have good income earnings and don't live in poverty?

Pertaining to how the living arrangements of low-income people are geographically distributed, we discussed the demolition of the Cabrini-Green housing project in Chicago and the attempts to provide vouchers to outgoing residents so they could live in new dwellings, many of which are fancy units near the old site. Here are some relevant articles, from CBS News, the New York Times, Chicago Business, Northwestern University, and UW-Eau Claire (some of these reports are several years old).

In Chp 9, in the section of Ethnic Minority pg 211, the book talks about "how compared to whites, members of ethnic minority groups have lower income earnings and greater rates of poverty, placing them at a distinct economic disadvantage. However, ethnic minority groups also have specific resources that traditionally have served as buffers against economic stress" Explain in further detail these types of resources for particular family structures that are different than non-ethnic minority groups and how they can serve as "buffers" against economic stress...Any disadvantages to these resources?

According to the book, ethnic minority groups earn less on average than whites. Yesterday, we learned that indeed, racism, plays a part in how employers select their employees. How can this discrepancy be remedied? Do you think that racially considerate policies like affirmative action place more expectations on ethnic minority employees (like the example with working mothers)? How does the chronic stress that occurs due to racism compare to the stress derived from economic hardship?

"Children who experience economic stress have been found to exhibit greater levels of depression and aggression, more impulsive and antisocial behaviors, decreased levels of self-esteem, and diminished school performance" (p. 212). What can parents do to help prevent the family's economic stress from negatively affecting their children?

Sybil has already submitted several comments relating to work, family, and financial planning, which we can use for discussion.

Also, given that Social Security came up during our class discussion, this document provides some long-term estimates of what the program will be able to pay out in the coming decades, even if no changes are made to existing law. Another good overview of the situation is available here.