Bills, babies, and (language) barriers: Associations among economic strain, parenting, and primary language during the newborn period

Objective The goal of this study was to examine associations among economic strain, parenting self‐efficacy, parenting satisfaction, and parent primary language in a universally low‐income sample of parents with newborns. Background Previous research links increased economic strain to lower levels of parenting self‐efficacy and parenting satisfaction among socioeconomically diverse parents with older children. Little research has examined whether primary language shapes the associations among economic strain, parenting self‐efficacy, and parenting satisfaction. Method Parents (n = 194, Mage = 30.91) completed self‐report surveys measuring economic strain, parenting self‐efficacy, and parenting satisfaction. Parents' ethnic self‐identification and primary language were used to stratify parents into three groups: Latinx Spanish speakers, Latinx English speakers, and non‐Latinx English speakers. Results Regression analyses revealed that economic strain was negatively associated with both parenting self‐efficacy and parenting satisfaction. Further, the negative association between economic strain and parenting self‐efficacy was stronger for Latinx Spanish speakers. Conclusion Economic strain may negatively influence parenting self‐efficacy and parenting satisfaction during the newborn period. Parents whose primary language is Spanish may be disproportionately affected by economic strain. Implications Parents of newborns may benefit from increased economic supports in linguistically responsive pediatric care and social service settings.