Housing pathways, parenting, and early childhood development in low-income families : a qualitative study of mothers’ perspectives

Abstract

Many low-income families with young children encounter substantial housing challenges, which may critically affect early childhood development due to the significant amount of time children spend at home. Despite this, there is limited understanding of how these families perceive and experience their housing circumstances and address environmental risks impacting their children’s well-being. This study draws on semistructured interviews with 19 low-income mothers of preschool children in Hong Kong to examine parental perceptions of housing and neighborhood conditions and their implications for children’s health and development amid poverty. The findings indicate that parenting young children further intensifies families’ housing concerns, with crowded living spaces and poor housing quality perceived as major threats to child development. Such adversity exacerbates maternal stress associated with financial constraints and caregiving responsibilities, undermining effective parenting practices. Public rental housing does not necessarily enhance parenting environments meaningfully, and mothers commonly express limited optimism about improvements to their housing situations. This paper advances the literature by elucidating the dynamic interplay between housing trajectories and early childhood parenting among low-income families.