Taking time to listen: The challenges of longitudinal qualitative research with children in a family setting Tess Ridge ESRC Research Methods Festival 2008 Session 58: research with children – what are we still overlooking? Oxford 3 rd July 2008 Dr Tess Ridge Department of Social and Policy Sciences, University of Bath, Bath, BA2 7AY. Tel:

Children, research and social policy Children and policy process Children as targets of policy Children as mediators of policy Dominance of research ‘relevant’ to or ‘about’ children Need for research that explores things that concern children but do not seem to directly involve them Exploring other areas of research e.g family life, work and wider family policy issues

What is longitudinal qualitative research ? Qualitative longitudinal methods for policy-related research is relatively new but has been developing rapidly in recent years. QLM can help to ‘ uncover and understand processes of change over time’ ( Corden and Millar, 2007) The focus is on change ‘how people change and how people respond to change, is very relevant in the current policy context in which individual behaviour change is seen as key to achieving desired policy goals’ ( Corden and Millar, 2007)

Why choose qualitative longitudinal research for this research study? 3 reasons Policy context Research question Family setting

Policy context Increasing rates Maternal employment Activation programmes – especially lone parents High rates of child poverty Government policy to eradicate child poverty Welfare in work, ‘work is the best way out of poverty’ Policy target 70% lone mothers in employment ‘children’s best chance of a better future is for their parents to find routes into work’ Tony Blair, 2002

Policy context – children Children as passive family members Children as burdens – obstacles to employment Children as social investments Research focus invariably on childcare

Formulating the research question Testing out the policy –Moving in to employment –Cycling between benefits and employment –Sustaining employment What effect does maternal employment have on children’s lives? –At employment transition –Over time –Moving between work and benefits How do children negotiate, manage and mediate changing landscapes of work and care?

Family setting is important Holistic approach to family life Understanding change and family practices Exploring children’s contributions Moving beyond the notion of children as passive burdens Bringing children’s experiences into wider family policy arena Understanding the particular relational dynamics between lone mothers and their children Understanding the ‘family work project’

The research study Qualitative, longitudinal study of low-income working family life Initial sample 50 low-income lone mother families –61 children aged between 8-15 years –3 waves of interviews The aim of the study The main aims of the project were to examine the impact of paid work, and for some job loss, on family life and living standards over time; and to explore whether and how these families, mothers and children negotiate the everyday challenges of sustaining low-income employment over time.

Methodological challenges Gaining consent –Mothers –Children Maintaining consent –Staying in touch Concerns about attrition –Losing mothers/children Practical difficulties –Geographical spread –Catching up with children

Research findings Children’s reflections of life prior to their mother’s entering the labour market - Similar profile to children in previous Income Support study Where mothers had moved into relatively stable employment children generally felt more secure financially – economic and social benefits Where mothers were unable to secure stable employment and/or left labour market - renewed fears about social exclusion and difference, financially insecure and uncertain about value of employment

Children’s experiences of maternal employment mediated by key factors Age, income and security, family time and family practices, childcare, and perceptions of maternal well-being Not discrete elements overlap and intersect with each other. Reveals complexity of children’s lives and experiences and highlights positive and negative dimensions of change Children’s own strategies to manage employment and change – taking on responsibilities, managing needs and tolerating adverse situations

Challenges for policy –Children are active social agents producing and reproducing childhood and family life over time –Children identify issues and concerns that adults may not notice or value –They try to manage and mediate the experience of poverty and other changes in family life – like maternal employment –Previous experiences are significant – for example the fear of a return to poverty may affect children’s behaviour – strong incentives –Policies can have an intended and/or unintended impact on children's lives –Children may absorb some of the negative costs of policies e.g. welfare-to work policies

Reflections from the field Time issues –What does change over time mean –Time different for children –Changing needs and expectations Change –Family life in flux –Considerable change for some children Longitudinal research reveals flux and change, elements of strength and resilience but also vulnerability and fragility

Research reflections Representing children's lives –Policy settings –Moral panics The familiar stranger/friend – doing longitudinal research –Building relationships ’you get to talk about everything what’s happened with somebody and it feels good’ –How long? –Maintaining consent Personal challenges for the researcher Leaving a footprint

‘I think about things before you come, like what you’re going to say and, like, how and trying to think what you said last time to me and what you’re going to say this time so I can make my answers more better. And then, like, when you’ve gone I think about things what I have said and what I am going to do; like I said that I want to get my own house and I’ll think about that and then and try and, like, move myself to do that’. Louise