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Early Maternal Employment And Children's School Readiness: Changing Associations Over Time?
- Source :
- Journal of Child & Family Studies; Apr2023, Vol. 32 Issue 4, p1032-1047, 16p, 4 Charts
- Publication Year :
- 2023
-
Abstract
- This study assessed whether the links between early maternal employment and children's school readiness have changed over time. Research has examined mothers' labor force participation and its associations with children's well-being. As maternal employment has become more normative, these associations may have changed, particularly among subgroups of families. Data come from two large, longitudinal samples of children born in the U.S. in 1991 (N = 1042) and in 2001 (N = 7850). OLS regression models estimated changes between cohorts in the associations between early maternal employment and children's reading/language skills, math skills, and conduct problems at age 4 and school entry. Despite similar prevalence rates of maternal employment by 9 months between the 1991 and 2001 samples, there were differences in the demographic characteristics of mothers in each employment pattern over the decade. Examining associations between the early maternal employment patterns and children's school readiness, results revealed that full time employment by 9 months in comparison to non-employment shifted to having more positive associations with reading/language skills at age 4 and school entry from 1991 to 2001. However, full time maternal employment by 9 months was associated with children's higher conduct problems at school entry in 1991 and 2001, and by 2001, part time employment had similar repercussions. The results differed by family income. There have been small changes in the associations between early maternal employment and children's school readiness over time. Highlights: Full time employment by 9 months shifted to having more positive links with reading/language skills from 1991 to 2001. Full time maternal employment by 9 months was associated with children's higher conduct problems in 1991 and 2001. Changes in the associations between maternal employment and school readiness differed by family income. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Subjects :
- MOTHERS
WELL-being
CHILD development
COMMUNICATIVE competence
REGRESSION analysis
ACADEMIC achievement
MATHEMATICS
BEHAVIOR disorders in children
PSYCHOLOGICAL tests
CHILD Behavior Checklist
NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL tests
EMPLOYMENT
SCHOOLS
DESCRIPTIVE statistics
RESEARCH funding
STATISTICAL models
READING
LONGITUDINAL method
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 10621024
- Volume :
- 32
- Issue :
- 4
- Database :
- Complementary Index
- Journal :
- Journal of Child & Family Studies
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 163150163
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-022-02357-3