Grandparents joblessness and separation affecting today’s kids

Researchers from the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research have found that the impact of long-term unemployment and separation in a family extends to future generations.

The analysis, looking at the influence of long-term joblessness and separation of grandparents on grandchildren, appears in the Annual Statistical Report 2012 of the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC) released by the Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS).

Institute researchers Kirsten Hancock and Professor Steve Zubrick looked at two particularly disruptive family history events, joblessness and separation, and the impact of these on the social and emotional wellbeing and academic achievement of study children.

The research showed the effects of joblessness and separation experienced by grandparents extended beyond the outcomes of their own children (the study parents) into the next generation as well (the study children, or grandchildren).

Ms Hancock said irrespective of whether or not the study parents had experienced joblessness, the outcomes for children whose grandparents had experienced joblessness were significantly worse than those whose grandparents had not experienced joblessness.

"The poorest outcomes were observed for children with two generations of joblessness in their family, and these patterns were observed for children as young as four years of age," Ms Hancock said.

"For example, where 24% of children aged 4-5 years had likely social-emotional problems if their parents had experienced joblessness, this increased to 33% for children who had two generations of joblessness in their family."

"This intergeneration effect was also evident in the children aged 10-11 years where the numbers were 27% and 43% respectively."

A similar pattern was shown for family separation, but only in families where the study parents had separated. That is, family separation in the grandparent generation was only associated with poorer outcomes for study children if the study parents had also separated.

Ms Hancock said the results demonstrate how challenging family circumstances can persist across generations.

"It is important that vulnerable families who experience these disruptive events are provided with adequate support to help improve the outcomes not only for their own children, but for subsequent generations of families," she said.

The report can be downloaded here.

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About LSAC
Growing Up in Australia: The Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC) is a major study following the development of 10,000 children and families from all parts of Australia. The study commenced in 2004 with two cohorts - families with 4-5 year old children and families with 0-1 year old infants. Growing Up in Australia is investigating the contribution of children's social, economic and cultural environments to their adjustment and wellbeing. A major aim is to identify policy opportunities for improving support for children and their families and for early intervention and prevention strategies.