G4 Doctoral dissertation (monograph)
Virallinen ja epävirallinen taloudellinen apu vähävaraisten lapsiperheiden vanhempien ja lasten kokemana : fenomenologis-hermeneuttinen tutkimus (2024)
Low-income families’ parents’ and children’s experiences on formal and informal financial aid : a phenomenological hermeneutical study


Sarkia, A. (2024). Virallinen ja epävirallinen taloudellinen apu vähävaraisten lapsiperheiden vanhempien ja lasten kokemana : fenomenologis-hermeneuttinen tutkimus [Doctoral dissertation]. Jyväskylän yliopisto. JYU Dissertations, 824. https://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-86-0292-7


JYU authors or editors


Publication details

All authors or editors: Sarkia, Aino

eISBN: 978-952-86-0292-7

Journal or series: JYU Dissertations

eISSN: 2489-9003

Publication year: 2024

Number in series: 824

Number of pages in the book: 1 verkkoaineisto (316 sivua)

Publisher: Jyväskylän yliopisto

Place of Publication: Jyväskylä

Publication country: Finland

Publication language: Finnish

Persistent website address: https://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-86-0292-7

Publication open access: Openly available

Publication channel open access: Open Access channel


Abstract

The aim of this study is to increase understanding of the experiences low-income families’ parents and children have on formal and informal financial aid. The research questions are: 1) what kinds of meanings parents from low-income families associate with informal and formal financial aid, 2) what kinds of meanings children from low-income families associate with informal financial aid, and 3) what kinds of shared and unshared meanings of financial aid children and parents have.
The study is based on the phenomenological hermeneutical approach, and the data has been analyzed using the phenomenological hermeneutical method. Family members from 34 low-income families provided their experiences on financial aid for examination. At the time of the study, 20 of the research participants were children aged 9–17, while 14 were adults. Data collection was carried out in two phases during 2022. The first phase consisted of interviews. The adults were interviewed individually, while the children were, in addition to individual interviews, interviewed in pairs and in one group. During the second phase, the experience of financial aid was examined with creative methods, including videos and written material. One child and six adults participated in this second phase.
Based on the analysis of the data, the meanings parents and children associate with formal and informal financial aid are manifested in three distinct sets, which are the basis of financial aid, the needs and processes of applying for financial aid, and informal financial aid as an enabler. Children and parents have both shared and unshared meanings of financial aid, which appear in all three sets.
The study indicates that examining financial aid from both children’s and parents’ point of view produces a comprehensive understanding of the research topic. Based on the study and its results, phenomenologically oriented social work research can be used to address broad societal issues, such as child and family poverty, in addition to experiential perspectives of individuals.


Keywords: families with children; lack of means; poverty; social security; financial aid; charity; experiences (knowledge); social work; doctoral dissertations

Free keywords: financial aid; social work; family; poverty; experiences; hermeneutical phenomenology


Contributing organizations


Ministry reporting: Yes

VIRTA submission year: 2024


Last updated on 2024-14-10 at 15:08