How Mom and Dad Influence Youth Participation

In Extension 4-H/youth program development, we assume that parents influence their children's participation in youth organizations. The family situations of youth, therefore, are important considerations for program planning, recruitment, and strategies for involvement in programs. Yet, no documentation clearly indicates what specific characteristics of families are related to participation of youth in organizations like 4-H.

Sources of Influence

Three general sources of influence suggested by a model of youth participation in voluntary groups are: (1) individual characteristics, (2) social and physical environment, and (3) characteristics of the voluntary organization.¹ Most studies of youth participation have focused on individual characteristics.² Family characteristics of youth are part of their social and physical environment, one of the categories less often examined for youth organizations. We do know that parents' socioeconomic status and parents' participation in organizations have an influence on their children's later adult organization participation.³

However, the characteristics of parents whose children are involved in youth organizations haven't been similarly examined. This article examines patterns of participation of youth in youth voluntary organizations, including 4-H, and looks at family characteristics related to these patterns of youth participation.

Family Study

The study reported here is part of a broad study that examined many aspects of family life. Data were collected by a statewide mail survey of Kentucky families in nonmetropolitan counties in 1981. The survey was unique because two identical questionnaires were mailed to each household, one for the male adult and one for the female adult. A random sample was selected from voter registration lists. Responses were received from 2,818, representing 61 % of the total possible respondents.

From the total sample responses, all husband and wife respondents who had children aged 9-19 were included in this analysis. This subsample consisted of 379 couples. This method allows results to be generalized to nonmetropolitan Kentucky. The findings have implications for nonmetropolitan areas in other states as well, given that nonmetropolitan areas share common characteristics. Note, however, that the data were collected only from adults, so the information about children was supplied by their parents.

Findings

Organizational Membership

Both parents and children were joiners. More than 70 % of adult males and females were members of at least 1 voluntary organization, and about two-thirds of the sample families had children who were members of a youth organization. Almost half of these adults and children were members of two or more voluntary organizations. The most commonly joined types of youth organizations were: (1) school-related, with about 40% of all families having a child who was a member; (2) church clubs, 33%; (3) organized sports leagues, 30%; and (4) 4-H Clubs, 25% (see Table 1). (This percentage of 4-H membership corresponds to actual Kentucky enrollment figures.)

Factors Influencing Participation

Children were much more likely to be members of youth organizations if their parents were members of adult organizations. For mothers who were members of adult organizations, over three-fourths had children who were members of a youth organization. The proportion was significantly lower for mothers who weren't members of adult organizations, since only about half had children who were members of youth organizations. The same pattern was present for fathers' and children's memberships.

We also examined the effects of parents' education, place of residence, employment status, family income, and family size on children's membership in organizations (Table 2). These data document that the higher the family income and parents' levels of education, the more likely their children were to be members of youth organizations regardless of where their families live or how many other children were in the family.

Table 2. Youth organization membership and parents, characteristics

Adult Leadership

Interaction between parents and children also had an effect on parents being leaders for 4-H and other youth organizations. Parents whose children were members of a youth organization were much more likely to be leaders of that youth organization than were adults who didn't have children who were members. Parents who had children who were 4-H members were 4 times as likely to be 4-H leaders as were parents whose children weren't 4-H members. A similar pattern was found for adult leadership of youth organizations in general.

Working Mothers

Mothers' employment status didn't have any effect on children's membership or mothers' participation as leaders. Children are just as likely to be youth organization members and mothers are just as likely to be leaders if the mothers are employed full-time outside the home as they are if they're employed part-time or are full-time homemakers. Increased participation of women in the labor force, therefore, didn't reduce children's involvement in organizations or mothers' participation as youth leaders.

Implications for Extension

While all of these findings have implications for voluntary organizations, some are especially relevant to Extension 4-H/youth programs. At least for this sample, 4-H was one of the organizations youth chose most often. Participation of youth was influenced by several characteristics of their parents and families. Youth were more likely to belong to voluntary organizations if their parents also were members of organizations, and if the parents had higher income and educational levels. Since children from families in which the parents had lower incomes and lower educational levels were less likely to join a youth organization on their own, special efforts are needed to involve them in youth programs. This study also documents that adult 4-H leaders very often had children who were 4-H members. Family interaction was important enough with regard to 4-H that parents were a major source of adult 4-H leaders. Interestingly, children's membership and female adult leadership weren't affected by mothers' employment status. Thus, the increasing trend of women working outside the home hasn't resulted in decreases in children's or mothers' participation in 4-H.

Footnotes

1. W. Keith Warner, "Membership Participation in Voluntary Organizations," Research Bulletin 263 (Madison: University of Wisconsin, 1965).
   
2. For examples, see Arthur Johnson and others, Voluntary Participation and Interests of Youth in the Mason City Extension Area: Executive Summary(Ames: Iowa State University, Cooperative Extension Service, 1978) and Mary Cloyd and others, Participation and Interests of Youth in the Mason City Extension Area, Sociology Report No. 142 (Ames:Iowa State University, 1978).
   
3. David Horton Smith and Burt R. Baldwin, "Parental Socialization, Socioeconomic Status, and Volunteer Organization Part ici pation," Journal of Voluntary Action Research, III (No. 3-4,1974), 59-66.