2011 The Palm Beach County Family Study (Full Report)

Table 49. Type of Family/Friends Support Received at least Weekly over Time a,b% MothersType of SupportYear 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5(n=276) (n=283) (n=288) (n=282) (n=285)Talk about personalproblems59 54 50 58 48Advice on children orhousehold problems64 52 45 43 43Help withhousework/childcare57 52 46 45 50Help with money, food, orclothing28 18 9 15 16a Data were weighted to account for the oversampling of mothers in the Glades and mothers assessed “at risk.”bPercentages indicate the total of mothers who responded “weekly” or “daily” on a 5-point scale.*Paired sample t-tests indicate that the following year-to-year differences are statistically significant at p < .05 or lower: talk1 vs.talk3; talk1 vs. talk5; talk2 vs. talk5; talk3 vs. talk4; talk4 vs. talk5; money1 vs. money2; money1 vs. money3; money1 vs.money4; money1 vs. money5; money2 vs. money3; money3 vs. money4; money3 vs. money5; housework1 vs. housework3;housework1 vs. housework4; housework2 vs. housework3; advice1 vs. advice2; advice1 vs. advice3; advice1 vs. advice4;advice1 vs. advice5; advice2 vs. advice3; advice2 vs. advice4; advice2 vs. advice5.Community Support“Community” encompasses a variety of professionals with whom mothers may have contact—everyonefrom medical to school personnel, social service personnel to members of the clergy. Overall, the mothersreport higher levels of community support as time progresses. Forty percent of the mothers reportedsupport from someone in the community in year 1, 45 percent in year 2, 57 percent in year 3, and 58percent in year 4. However, in year 5, the number of mothers who reported receiving help from someonein the community decreased dramatically; in this year, just 22 percent of mothers reported receiving helpfrom community members. 39With respect to the kinds of community support families received in year 5, mothers tended to reportreceiving advice on children or household problems somewhat more frequently than concrete supportsuch as help with money, food, or clothing (see Table 50). However, reported help from communitymembers with money, food, or clothing increased from the previous year. Lesser levels of concretesupport were received more frequently in all 5 years. In the previous year, just 2 percent of the samplereported receiving this help “weekly,” and 8 percent “monthly.” Reported help in the form of advice onchildren or household problems in year 5 also increased from that in year 4.39 More detail on changes in social support can be found in previous study reports (e.g., Spielberger et al., 2010). Over the first 4years of the study, mothers reported receiving increased support from healthcare professionals and childcare providers, butvariable support from social workers. In the year 5 interview, we did not ask about specific individuals in the community whoprovided support.Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago 81