The Intersection of Race, Socioeconomic Resources, and Parental Investment on Children’s Well-Being for Public Policy Research: Implication for a New Direction?

Rosanna Shuk Yin Lee, University of Washington

Public policy research on minority families has shown that economic hardship diminishes minority parents’ ability to care for their children. This paper argues that analyses of public policy sociological research have not adequately accounted for the confounding issues of class and race in parenting behaviors and children’s well-beings. Using multiple regressions, I find that minority parents, irrespective of income and educational attainment, are dis-proportionally more invested in their children’s well-being than white counterparts, through the provision of high levels of parental engagement and restrictions. The higher propensity of minority parents to control and engage with children is not due to socio-economic differentials. Instead, I find strong effect of an interaction between race and cultural values. These results are inconsistent with the stereotype of poor parenting portrayed in minority family of poverty, and demonstrate a complex intersection of race, class, and cultural factors pertinent to public policy on children’s well-being.