ERIC Number: EJ819091
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2008-Dec
Pages: 12
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0022-2445
EISSN: N/A
Marriage, Money, and African American Mothers' Self-Esteem
Mandara, Jelani; Johnston, Jamie S.; Murray, Carolyn B.; Varner, Fatima
Journal of Marriage and Family, v70 n5 p1188-1199 Dec 2008
This study examined the effects of marital status and family income on the self-esteem of 292 African American mothers. Counter to previous studies with European American mothers, family income moderated the effects of marital status. Those mothers with higher family income had higher self-esteem, regardless of their marital status. For those with less family income, married mothers had much higher self-esteem than unmarried mothers. Low-income married mothers had the same levels of self-esteem as high income mothers. It was concluded that financial resources can buffer the effects of being single, and being married can buffer the effects of being low income. Policy initiatives that focus on reducing the financial hardship on single mothers and increasing the marriage rate among lower income parents were also discussed.
Descriptors: Marital Status, Low Income, Mothers, Family Income, Marriage, African Americans, Self Esteem, Correlation, Socioeconomic Status, Socioeconomic Influences, Social Indicators, Sociocultural Patterns, African American Attitudes, African American Family, Public Policy
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A