When families struggle to meet basic needs, the outcomes reach far beyond material hardships. A team of researchers examined how financial struggles shape the emotional climate of American households and discovered a consistent link between financial hardship, caregiver stress, and the social skills children bring into friendships, classrooms, and community environments. Details are discussed in a paper published on 25 September 2025 in Family Relations.
A Study Involving American Households Found that Financial Struggles Shape Childhood Social Confidence
Financial strain alters far more than the spending habits of U.S. households. Burdened parents reshape the emotional climate at home and limit the social opportunities of their children.
Exploring the Impacts of Household Financial Strain
The examination used data from more than 3000 families across 20 U.S. cities. These families participated in the Future of Family and Child Wellbeing Study. Take note that this longest-running birth cohort study followed American children from age 3 to age 9 and captured the emotional and financial landscapes that surrounded early childhood development.
Financial hardship was more than a temporary inconvenience for many American adults raising children. It included skipped bill payments, reduced meals, or delayed medical appointments. These moments placed emotional strain on households and gradually reshaped communication patterns, daily routines, and the atmosphere that children observed and absorbed.
Researchers collected data at two key stages. At age 5, adults answered questions about hardship, depression symptoms, and cooperative caregiving. At age 9, children were evaluated for social comfort, peer interaction skills, emotional expression, and group adaptability, creating a timeline that linked financial challenges to social developmental outcomes.
They then employed structural equation modeling to determine relationships between financial stress, emotional strain, caregiving cooperation, and child social development. This method helped them map and trace how challenges in one area flowed into others to create a rich, interconnected picture of pressures that shaped daily life within each American household.
Financial Hardship and Childhood Social Development
Findings showed a clear chain of influence. Material hardship increased emotional strain among adults raising children, disrupted cooperative caregiving, and subsequently reduced child social competence by age 9. These offered an integrated view of financial, emotional, and relational pressures shaping early social experience outcomes across diverse households.
• Material Hardship Impact
Difficulty meeting basic needs increased depression symptoms among adults raising children at around age 5. These were more pronounced in mothers. The emotional burdens impaired caregiving and created strained home environments that influenced interpersonal learning for children across several daily routines and social contexts.
• Decline in Co-Parenting
Cooperation between adults decreased as hardships intensified. Conversations felt heavier, support felt less reliable, and caregiving decisions became harder to coordinate. Children observing these patterns gained fewer models of calm negotiation, shared decision making, and mutual reassurance that typically support steady social confidence.
• Child Social Skill Reduction
Children from households with earlier hardship displayed measurable declines in social comfort by age 9. Many showed hesitation during interactions with other children around their age, reduced initiative in making friends, and lower adaptability in various group environments where communication and self-regulation mattered most.
• Interdependence Between Adults
Emotional states in mothers and fathers influenced one another. Financial strain sometimes prompted fathers to increase caregiving involvement, yet depression among fathers frequently disrupted caregiving balance. These notable shifts reflected broader cultural expectations that often connect fatherhood identity to financial stability.
Why These Findings Matter for Families and Policy
Parents who experience financial hardships undergo emotional and relational issues that create a strained home environment with limited opportunities for positive interaction, early learning, and guidance. Note that these opportunities or factors are essential for building communication skills, emotional regulation, and confidence during critical developmental periods.
Limited income can also restrict access to stable routines, enrichment activities, safe social spaces, and high-quality early education. These constraints narrow exposure to cooperative play, structured peer interaction, and diverse communication experiences. The limitations collectively slow the development of strong social skills and adaptive interpersonal behavior.
Nevertheless, based on the results, financial assistance is not only an economic tool but also a pathway to emotional stability within households. When financial pressure decreases, emotional resilience increases, cooperative caregiving improves, and children receive more consistent guidance during moments that shape early communication and social confidence.
Support systems that prioritize mental health and relational stability can help families weather stressful periods. These include access to counseling and community programs that can strengthen the emotional coping skills of troubled parents. Policy initiatives that connect economic relief with emotional and caregiving support can produce the strongest long-term benefits.
FURTHER READING AND REFERENCE
- Zhang, Y., Yoon, S., Wang, J., Benavides, J. L., Chang, Y., and Maguire‐Jack, K. 2025. “The Effect of Material Hardship on Child Social Skills via Parental Depression and Coparenting.” Family Relations. DOI: 1111/fare.70046