Parental Unemployment and Youth Life Satisfaction: The Moderating Roles of Satisfaction with Family Life

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Abstract

While Europe is slowly recovering from the economic recession, its effects on labour markets are still visible. The number of jobless families has increased and previous research has shown that unemployment can affect the well-being of both parents and their children. In this study we explored the links between parental unemployment and youth life satisfaction by considering the potential moderating roles played by satisfaction with family life and perceived family wealth. We used descriptive statistics, correlations, simple moderation and moderated moderation models of regression on data from a representative sample of 3937 Portuguese students (M (age) = 13.9 years; SD +/- 1.7; 48 % boys). Results showed that the negative effects of parental unemployment on youth life satisfaction were moderated by youth perceived satisfaction with family life but not by perceived wealth. This suggested that during family unemployment, young people satisfied with their family life are less vulnerable to the negative effects of parental unemployment on their life satisfaction. The relationship between parental unemployment and youth well-being requires further research, especially during periods of labour market crisis.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)3214-3219
Number of pages6
JournalJOURNAL OF CHILD AND FAMILY STUDIES
Volume25
Issue number11
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Nov 2016

Keywords

  • Adolescence
  • Life-satisfaction
  • Parental unemployment
  • Family relations
  • ADOLESCENTS HEALTH
  • ECONOMIC HARDSHIP
  • CHILDREN
  • BEHAVIOR
  • Family Studies
  • Psychology
  • Psychiatry

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