For many low-wage working parents, the conditions of their jobs effectively set them up to fail: meeting both their work and family obligations becomes an impossible juggling act. And too often, parents’ low wages and work conditions undermine their children’s chances for success as well, despite parents’ best efforts.
Research shows that the achievement gaps between poor and low-income children and their higher-income peers emerge in the earliest years of life, can persist and even widen throughout childhood. Other features of low-wage work that increase parents’ stress—including nonstandard and constantly fluctuating work hours, rigid attendance policies, and a lack of any paid time off—can also adversely affect children’s development. A new report, Set Up to Fail, draws on academic and policy research and parents’ own stories to describe the interconnected challenges they face.
Source: National Women’s Law Center, 1/28/16, Parents' Challenges
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