Children raised in either single-mother or single-grandmother households: Do their school experiences and engagement in schoolwork differ ?
Children raised in either single-mother or single-grandmother households : Do their school experiences and engagement in schoolwork differ ?
Intervenant : Peter Brandon (Chair and Professor, Department of Sociology in University at Albany, SUNY, Etats-Unis) ; discutante : Nathalie Le Bouteillec (chercheuse associée Ined UR03, chercheuse CURAPP-ESS & professeure UPJV)
American children grow up in many different types of households. Across these households, resources, parenting styles, household composition, and neighborhoods differ. Studies suggest that the intermingling of social, economic, geographical, and demographic factors affects children’s well-being and transitions into adulthood. Thus, household structures are consequential to children’s future opportunities. Among households in which American children grow up, two of the more fragile are single-mother and single-grandmother households. Though we know much about the well-being of children growing up in single-mother households, our understanding of the well-being of grandchildren raised in single-grandmother households is strikingly limited, especially our understanding of their daily school experiences and schoolwork routines. Yet, children’s experiences at school and engagement in learning are crucial to their development and identity. This study compares experiences at school and engagement in schoolwork for children in single-mother and single-grandmother households. The study finds significant differences in some school experiences and schoolwork routines between children growing up in these two types of households. Findings cast concern over the educational trajectories of children raised in single-grandmother households while raising the issue of the best policy response so that children in single-grandmother-headed households are not educationally disadvantaged.
Biographie de Peter Brandon :
Peter Brandon is a social demographer whose work encompasses population dynamics, family well-being, and economic sociology. He received a B.A. from Michigan State University, an M.A. from the University of Michigan, and a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. After postdoctoral fellowships at the Institute for Research on Poverty and the National Institutes for Child Health and Development, he held research and professorial positions at the University of Wisconsin, University of Massachusetts, Brown University, Australian National University, and Carleton College. He has been a member of three National Academy of Sciences panels advising the United States government on immigration issues and longitudinal survey methods as well as consulting with governments and international organizations on evaluating child and family policies. Peter was recently the 2023/2024 Fulbright-Tocqueville Distinguished Chair at Ined, Paris, and past Chair of the Department of Sociology at the University at Albany—State University of New York. He has received grants from numerous institutions and foundations.