Help for Vulnerable Parents Often Misses the Mark
The first years of a child’s life are critical. In recent years, politicians have prioritized early, preventive interventions for vulnerable families, emphasizing parents’ central role when children are young. However, some vulnerable parents are also perceived as potential risks to their children's well-being.
This is the focal point of a new research project investigating how parents experience involvement in early interventions for young children. The project focuses on family-oriented, preventive, and advisory efforts such as discussion groups and health services under Barnets Lov (the Child’s Law.)
Learning at Home on the system’s terms
Professor Pernille Juhl, the project leader, believes it is essential to understand the frameworks shaping this collaboration.
Her previous research reveals a paradox in the interaction between parents and the system: The most vulnerable families often meet greater demands than other parents.
The 2018 reform of the Daycare Act placed shared responsibility on parents for children’s learning, both at home and in daycare. Educators were expected to guide parents in creating “home learning environments.” While the intention was to provide children with more equal opportunities, the result was that parents—especially those with the fewest resources—were burdened with a significant additional task.
Pernille Juhl's earlier research shows that many parents feel pressured to support their children’s development in prescribed ways. For example, a mother with a non-Danish ethnic background was advised not to sing Arabic lullabies, as language intervention guidelines favored singing in Danish. Similarly, children and parents who enjoy reading books like Curious George are encouraged to read different types of books:
“They are given certain books to take home, which the children find boring and therefore do not want to read. These books contain difficult words like ‘apartment complex’ and ‘architectural drawing.’ When reading aloud to young children, such content doesn’t capture their attention. Additionally, parents receive a lengthy manual explaining how to use ‘dialogic reading’ to enhance language development. All of this takes considerable time and doesn’t come naturally to everyone. Adding such a task can place a lot of pressure on a family,” says Pernille Juhl.
Misguided efforts overlook the real problems
The intention behind these initiatives is to reduce inequality, but the research shows that, in some cases, they can have the opposite effect. Vulnerable families particularly experience intense monitoring and are assessed in problematic ways, Juhl explains.
If a municipality becomes concerned about a parent’s caregiving practices or abilities, they often initiate psychological tests and home observations:
“Families are measured on aspects that the rest of us are completely exempt from being judged on—such as routines involving meals, bedtime, or bathing. These everyday situations can often be chaotic. I can’t help but think, ‘Good thing they didn’t come to my home when my children were young,’ because it’s precisely in these moments that conflicts often arise, as numerous concerns need to be balanced,” says Pernille Juhl.
Although the intention is to provide families with additional support, it often fails, Juhl argues.
“The problem is that the support often ends up being something like a course teaching parents to regulate their emotions. And that becomes yet another task. It’s not cleaning assistance or a babysitter. The help provided rarely addresses the real problems parents are facing,” she points out.
“兴发娱乐官网手机版客户端 already know that parental collaboration is crucial for enhancing children’s well-being. However, our research aims to dig deeper into how parents experience being part of these interventions. One goal of the project is to develop knowledge on how parents can be genuinely included as equal participants because parents have essential knowledge about the issues the interventions are trying to address,” says Pernille Juhl.
The researchers hope that the project will not only generate new insights but also contribute to developing practices in municipalities and daycare institutions that better support vulnerable families.
More About the Research Project
The research project is structured in three phases:
> Mapping
Investigation of previous interventions in municipalities and how they interact.
> In-Depth Analysis
Selection of the 10 most common interventions and observations of collaborations between parents and professionals in four municipalities.
> Problem Analysis
Reviews of twelve complex cases where collaboration between parents and staff is particularly challenging—with a focus on experiences and potential solutions.
The Independent Research Fund Denmark has granted DKK 4,386,657 to the project.