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Does Maternal Employment Following Childbirth Support or Inhibit Low‐Income Children’s Long‐Term Development?
Author(s) -
Coley Rebekah Levine,
Lombardi Caitlin McPherran
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
child development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.103
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1467-8624
pISSN - 0009-3920
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2012.01840.x
Subject(s) - socioemotional selectivity theory , psychology , developmental psychology , propensity score matching , childbirth , child development , cognitive development , demography , cognition , pregnancy , medicine , psychiatry , sociology , biology , genetics
This study assessed whether previous findings linking early maternal employment to lower cognitive and behavioral skills among middle‐class and White children generalized to other groups. Using a representative sample of urban, low‐income, predominantly African American and Hispanic families ( n = 444), ordinary least squares regression and propensity score matching models assessed links between maternal employment in the 2 years after childbearing and children’s functioning at age 7. Children whose mothers were employed early, particularly in their first 8 months, showed enhanced socioemotional functioning compared to peers whose mothers remained nonemployed. Protective associations emerged for both part‐time and full‐time employment, and were driven by African American children, with neutral effects for Hispanics. Informal home‐based child care also heightened positive links.