Parenting support needs of immigrant women: Study of the informal and formal parenting support needs of non-western immigrant women in three European Countries.

Abstract

Parents have a growing need for parenting support. However, parenting support services do not reach all parents that are in need of parenting support. Especially immigrant parents are not easily reached by parenting support services, and frequently come under the definition of ‘hard-to-reach’. Through the international project ‘Integrating Disadvantaged Ethnicities through Adult Learning’ (IDEAL) the opportunity was provided to involve in the current study, immigrant women in the Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark who are usually not easily reached by parenting support services. The exact needs of the women for informal- and formal parenting support were examined, in order to make it possible to adapt parenting support programmes to these needs and to therefore make it possible to more easily reach the women, when necessary. From February 2012 to April 2012, semi-structured interviews were conducted with twenty women. All the women were found to have a need for informal parenting support. Especially the need for an informal social network and for information from television programmes was great. In thirteen out of the twenty women this need of informal parenting support was completely met. The need of formal parenting support was found to be much less than the need of informal parenting support, because the women didn’t perceive their parenting difficulties as real problems. Women who mentioned to have a need for formal parenting support, had a need for briefings, information sessions, face to face contact with specialists or contact with a group of other parents to share experiences. That need, however, was at the moment mostly not adequately met. Although the needs of the women differed very much, it is clear that, when necessary, the women are best reached through informal parenting support services like an informal social network or television programmes about parenting, provided in their native language. Findings from the Netherlands regarding the need of parenting support were found to be quite similar to findings from Sweden and Denmark.