Working Mothers, Relax: The Kids are All Right

There’s good news today for working mothers who feel guilty that they aren’t home with their infants instead of out earning a living.  A new study from researchers at Columbia University finds that babies raised by working mothers don’t necessarily suffer cognitive loss, as a consequence of having mom at work instead of at home.  These are the same researchers, by the way, who threw working mothers a huge, collective guilt in 2002 when they published a different study  showing that early maternal employment did hamper early child development.

The difference, they say, is that this is first study to measure the full effect of maternal employment on child development–not just the potential harm caused by a mother’s absence, but also the prospective benefits that come with her job, including higher family income and better child care.  When those factors are considered, the researchers conclude “that the overall effect of 1st-year maternal employment on child development is neutral.”

The report is based on data from the most comprehensive child-care study to date, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care. It followed more than 1,000 children from 10 geographic areas through first grade, tracking their development and family characteristics.

While infants raised by mothers with full-time jobs scored somewhat lower on cognitive tests–sometimes into first grade–the negative effect was offset by such factors as working mothers having higher income and being more likely to seek high-quality child care. And they displayed greater “maternal sensitivity,” or responsiveness toward their children, than stay-at-home mothers.  

The study, “First-Year Maternal Employment and Child Development in the First 7 Years,” confirms the point that women who work full time in the first year of motherhood risk mild developmental harm to their children but adds the important finding that this risk is cancelled out by other positvies.  Part-time employment has no negative effect, nor does it matter whether a mother works full time after the first year.

Bottom line:  You’re not a terrible mother after all if you work.

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