Grant Molly, Meissel Kane, Exeter Dan, Morton Susan M B
Faculty of Education and Social Work, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.
School of Population Health, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.
SSM Popul Health. 2024 Jul 21;27:101700. doi: 10.1016/j.ssmph.2024.101700. eCollection 2024 Sep.
As a key aspect of poverty, material hardship describes day-to-day struggles in affording necessities. In explorations of policy initiatives that mitigate material hardship, evidence suggests direct income support can be effective in alleviating hardship. However, research investigating the long-term effects of income supports is limited, and it remains uncertain as to how benefit receipt may mitigate material hardship for families with children across time.
To explore the associations between income assistance and material hardship longitudinally, we utilised data from four waves of the birth-cohort study ( = 5964), where family experiences were tracked between birth and adolescence. The variables of interest included mother-reported receipt of income benefits and material hardship from when the children were aged 9-months, 54-months, 8-years, and 12-years. Multilevel logistic regression analysis was employed to examine the associations between benefit receipt and material hardship in the short- and long-term. Interaction terms between benefit receipt and time were incorporated in the modelling to determine whether receiving benefits corresponded with significant changes in the likelihood of experiencing material hardship at specific time points.
The key results suggest that benefit receipt in early childhood reduced the likelihood of experiencing material hardship at subsequent time points at least until adolescence, when controlling for key sociodemographic characteristics.
These findings provide insight into the associations between early childhood income supports and reductions in the likelihood of experiencing material hardship in the long-term, to emphasise the potential for such interventions to have longstanding effects. By elucidating the associations between benefit receipt and subsequent material hardship, this research gives direction for policy interventions and timely support for families.
物质匮乏作为贫困的一个关键方面，描述了在购买生活必需品方面的日常挣扎。在探索减轻物质匮乏的政策举措时，有证据表明直接收入支持在缓解匮乏方面可能有效。然而，调查收入支持长期影响的研究有限，而且对于领取福利如何随着时间推移减轻有孩子家庭的物质匮乏仍不确定。
为了纵向探讨收入援助与物质匮乏之间的关联，我们利用了出生队列研究四轮调查的数据（n = 5964），该研究追踪了从出生到青春期的家庭经历。感兴趣的变量包括母亲报告的从孩子9个月、54个月、8岁和12岁起领取的收入福利以及物质匮乏情况。采用多水平逻辑回归分析来检验短期和长期内领取福利与物质匮乏之间的关联。在建模中纳入了领取福利与时间之间的交互项，以确定领取福利是否与特定时间点经历物质匮乏可能性的显著变化相对应。
关键结果表明，在控制关键社会人口学特征的情况下，幼儿期领取福利降低了至少直到青春期后续时间点经历物质匮乏的可能性。
这些发现深入了解了幼儿期收入支持与长期内经历物质匮乏可能性降低之间的关联，强调了此类干预措施产生长期影响的潜力。通过阐明领取福利与后续物质匮乏之间的关联，本研究为政策干预和对家庭的及时支持指明了方向。
