Maternal Employment and PreSchool Childrens Behavioral and Cognitive Outcomes: The Canadian Experien

1
Maternal Employment and Pre-School Childrens
Behavioral and Cognitive Outcomes The Canadian
Experience

• Kei Nomaguchi
• Department of Sociology
• University of Calgary

2
Background

• Increasing attention to Canadian childrens
  well-being
• McCain Mustard, Early Year Study (1999)
• Willms, Vulnerable Children (2002)
• Parents play a key role in childrens well-being.
• One of the features of todays Canadian parents
  and children Increase in mothers employment
  outside the home

3
Background (cont.)

• The increase in the labor force participation
  rate for Canadian women with young children
• Women with children ages 3 to 5
• 37 in 1976 ---gt 66 in 1999
• Women with children under age 3
• 28 in 1976 ---gt 61 in 1999
• Implications for childrens lives
• Do pre-school children tend to suffer if their
  mother works outside the home?

4
Explanations

• The link between maternal employment and
  childrens outcomes
• Increase in economic resources
• The absence of mother
• Inadequate mother-child relationships (lower
  attachment security)
• Non-parental care is not as good as maternal
  care.
• Lower parenting skills and engagement in
  childrens lives (role overload)

5
Previous studies (U.S. studies)

• The National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY)
• Outcomes
• Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test Revised
  (PPVT-R)
• Behavioral Problem Index (BPI)
• Early maternal employment
• Findings
• Employment during the first year may be
  detrimental for childrens vocabulary skills
• However, this may be only for advantaged
  children, e.g., White children (Waldfogel et al.,
  2003), middle-class boys (Desai et al., 1989)
• The effects on BPI depend on childrens age,
  mothers marital status, family income (Harvey,
  1999)

6
Previous studies (Canadian studies)

• The National Longitudinal Survey of Children and
  Youth (NLSCY)
• Outcomes
• PPVT-R
• Hyperactivity, physical aggression, emotional
  disorder (unhappiness, anxiety), pro-social
  behavior, behavioral problem index
• Current maternal employment
• Findings
• Maternal employment is not related to PPVT-R
  (Gagne, 2003 Lefebvre Merrigan, 1998)
• The effects on behavioral outcomes vary by
  childrens age (Lefebvre Merrigan, 1998 Miller
  et al., 2002 Roberts, 2003)

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This Study

• Focus on pre-school children
• Five behavioral outcomes and one cognitive
  outcome
• Current maternal employment and early maternal
  employment (within 3 months from birth)
• Other than controlling for socioeconomic
  characteristics, mothers characteristic, and
  family structure,
• Controlling for childrens temperament
• Controlling for parenting practices and childcare
• Differences by gender and poverty status

8
Sample

• National Longitudinal Survey of Children and
  Youth (NLSCY), Cycles 1 to 3
• Children who were 3 to 11 months in Cycle 1, who
  were also in Cycles 2 3
• PMK was their biological, adoptive, or foster
  mother and did not change across cycles.
• Of the 15 households where more than two children
  participated in the survey, only the oldest was
  included.
• No missing on temperament items in Cycle 1
• N 1,090.

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Dependent Variables

• Behavioral/emotional
• Hyperactivity (5 items)
• Physical aggression (3 items)
• Unhappy mood (4 items)
• Anxiety (3 items)
• Pro-social behavior (4 items)
• Cognitive
• Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test Revised
  (PPVT-R)

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Independent Variables

• Maternal employment
• Currently employed (at the time of interview when
  children are 4 years old)
• Any employment within 3 months after their
  childs birth

11
Mediator Variables

• Mothers parenting practices
• Positive interaction
• Harsh parenting
• Consistency
• Childcare types
• No childcare
• Care by relatives
• Care by non-relatives
• Care at daycare centers

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Control Variables in Focus

• Gender of the child (1 girls)
• Low income cut-offs (1 below low income
  cut-offs)
• Childs temperament at age 0
• Predictable
• Fussy/difficult
• Cheerful
• Dependent

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Other Control Variables

• Mothers characteristics
• age, education, foreign-born status, health
  problems related to their childs birth
• Family structure
• lone-family at age 0, marital dissolution, first
  child status, number of young siblings, presence
  of adults other than parents
• Childrens characteristics
• age in months, low birth weight status, current
  health condition
• Regions of residence
• provinces

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Figure 1. Percentage of 4-Year-Old Children
Whose Mothers Worked Outside the Home
15
Figure 2. Mean Scores for Childrens Outcomes at
Age 4 by Mothers Current Employment Status
16
Figure 2. Mean Scores for Childrens Outcomes at
Age 4 by Mothers Employment Within Three Months
from the Birth
17
Hyperactivity
Models control for Mothers parenting practices,
childcare types, mothers characteristics (age,
foreign-born status, education, health problems
related to childbirth), family structure
(single-parent family at the year of childs
birth, became single-parent family by age 4,
presence of older siblings, number of young
siblings, presence of adults other than parents),
childs characteristics (age in months, gender,
current health conditions, low birth weight,
temperament), and province of residence
18
Physical Aggression
Models control for Mothers parenting practices,
childcare types, mothers characteristics (age,
foreign-born status, education, problems related
to childbirth), family structure (single-parent
family at the year of childs birth, became
single-parent family by age 4, presence of older
siblings, number of young siblings, presence of
adults other than parents), childs
characteristics (age in months, gender, current
health conditions, low birth weight,
temperament), and province of residence
19
Unhappy Mood

Models control for Mothers parenting practices,
childcare types, mothers characteristics (age,
foreign-born status, education, health problems
related to childbirth), family structure
(single-parent family at the year of childs
birth, became single-parent family by age 4,
presence of older siblings, number of young
siblings, presence of adults other than parents),
childs characteristics (age in months, gender,
current health conditions, low birth weight,
temperament), and province of residence
20
Anxiety
Models control for Mothers parenting practices,
childcare types, mothers characteristics (age,
foreign-born status, education, health problems
related to childbirth), family structure
(single-parent family at the year of childs
birth, became single-parent family by age 4,
presence of older siblings, number of young
siblings, presence of adults other than parents),
childs characteristics (age in months, gender,
current health conditions, low birth weight,
temperament), and province of residence
21
Pro-Social Behavior
Models control for Mothers parenting practices,
childcare types, mothers characteristics (age,
foreign-born status, education, health problems
related to childbirth), family structure
(single-parent family at the year of childs
birth, became single-parent family by age 4,
presence of older siblings, number of young
siblings, presence of adults other than parents),
childs characteristics (age in months, gender,
current health conditions, low birth weight,
temperament), and province of residence
22
PPVT-R
Models control for Mothers parenting practices,
childcare types, mothers characteristics (age,
foreign-born status, education, health problems
related to childbirth), family structure
(single-parent family at the year of childs
birth, became single-parent family by age 4,
presence of older siblings, number of young
siblings, presence of adults other than parents),
childs characteristics (age in months, gender,
current health conditions, low birth weight,
temperament), and province of residence
23
Conclusion

• At bivariate level, maternal employment appears
  to be related to better child outcomes because of
  other characteristics, e.g., socioeconomic
  statuses, mothers marital status, and birth
  order.
• Controlling for other characteristics, mothers
  current employment is related to
• better vocabulary skills for all children.
• higher pro-social behavior, especially for
  children in families below poverty line.
• higher anxiety for children in families below
  poverty line, while it is related to lower
  anxiety for children in other families.

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Conclusion (cont.)

• Controlling for other characteristics, mothers
  employment within three months from their childs
  birth is related to
• higher physical aggression for girls
• lower hyperactivity for boys.
• Harsh parenting is related to all behavioral
  outcomes, but not to PPVT-R scores.
• Childcare types are not related to child
  outcomes, except
• Non-relative care (not in day care) is related to
  less pro-social behavior