pdf [5.3MB] - Department of Families, Housing, Community Services

success and, more generally, equal life chances. But social scientists as well aspolicy makers have paid far less attention to non-economic factors in the intergenerationaltransmission of disadvantage. Although research is on less thanfirm ground in this regard, there is a credible case to be made that non-economicmechanisms may be of equal if not greater importance than income. To adegree, the two coincide: teen-age mothers, immigrants and low educatedparents are also more likely to be income poor. But we are almost certainlytapping two rather distinct dimensions, and this implies that a strategy basednarrowly on income redistribution is unlikely to fully succeed.’While the income and asset base of parents are key factors in the development of positiveoutcomes, FF itself is characterised by factors other than economic status. A number ofconsistent themes arose in the literature describing the characteristics (or domains) whichplay a role in FF. Consistent themes reoccurred in the literature around six main domains,which were: emotional; governance; engagement and cognitive development; physical health; intra-familial relationships; and, social connectivity.The first four FF domains above focus on relationship elements between the parent(s) andthe child. The final two domains focus on relationships with other members of the immediatefamily, extended family and society. Each of the FF domains is defined by a number ofparticular characteristics (Table 1-1) that intrinsically overlap through the everyday activitiesand operations of the family unit. 4 A summary is provided below.FF – positive and negative – is defined through a variety of emotional attributes,family governance frameworks, cognitive engagement and developmentcharacteristics, physical health habits, intra-familial relationships and socialconnectedness. PFF is characterised by emotional closeness, warmth, supportand security; well-communicated and consistently applied age-appropriateexpectations; stimulating and educational interactions; the cultivation andmodelling of physical health promotion strategies; high quality relationshipsbetween all family members; and involvement of family members in communityactivities.4 For example, the dimensions analysed from the Family Mealtime Interaction Coding System (MICS) measureelements of the first five domains above, through the observed interactions of the everyday family activity of mealtime.4