Does coming from a single income household or low income family affect family dynamic? Can dysfunctional families stem from “Money”? Let’s begin with defining the term “dysfunctional family”. According to Wikipedia,“A dysfunctional family is a family in which conflict, misbehavior and often child neglect or abuse on the part of individual parent occur continuously and regularly, leading other members to accommodate such actions”. Therefore growing up in a family that struggles to make two ends meet, dysfunctionality could be an after effect. Since there are a lot of different types of family dynamics, this post will focus on the following:
1. Single (low) income households
2. Dual (low) income households
3. What can be done

Single Income Households
In a single income households, there is a single earner (either father or mother) who is the breadwinner of the family. Conflicts are very common especially in a single income household as the parent who makes the money believe they should exercise authority over the family economics whereas the other parent believe there should be a joint decision making process. There is also another aspect where stress from single-handedly running the family economy is often dumped on the other partner and kids. All of these often leads to conflicts between parents and children being unwantedly dragged into it. This type of unhealthy dynamic may not be intentional but it could very much affect the developmental process of children. Children in these types of households feel trapped in endless conflicts and they are unable to form a strong bond with one of their parent.

Dual Income Households
In Dual Income households, both parents work and there is two streams of income but it is not enough to run the family. This causes parents to work overtime and parents working two jobs are often unable to fully pay attention to their children and children often feel very neglected in such households. Conflicts can also happen due to work stress and like mentioned earlier unhealthy coping mechanisms. Differences in schedules and shifts between the parents sometimes lead to situations where the family rarely sees one another. Improper communication between the members of the family regarding budget, bills, payments, etc. can also lead to fights.  This type of dynamic is also unhealthy. Children in these types of households are unable to form a strong family bond and have to be independent from a very young age.

What Can Be Done
At the end of the day, low income can unhealthily affect the type of family dynamic you might have but we can rectify it. Many parents fall imprisoned to substance abuse, alcohol, smoking and so on. This too can cause  (ACEs) Adverse Childhood Experiences and can push children into many psychological and mental problems. A peace of mind is very necessary for education and this is interrupted too. A research states that “family stress model emphasizes that a lack of financial resources causes household dysfunction, which in turn harms child development”. So what can be done? Parents should learn to stress dump in a healthy way. Every week, keeping aside a as few as 2 hours for the family to communicate can cause vast differences. Family budget planning is also very essential as it avoids unnecessary confusions. Arguments and fights must be solved in a healthy way, rather than yelling try to sit down and discuss and try not to get children involved. A healthy environment will help both the children and parents to progress and remember there are a lot things money can’t buy. Although money is very essential for our basic needs, we must not get too caught up in it and regret not being able to spend time with our loved ones. Wishing everyone lots of love and wings of warmth.💖