title: Does maternal employment following childbirth support or inhibit low-income children's long-term development?
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Boston College. coleyre@bc.edu
authors.forename: Rebekah Levine
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Coley
authors.forename: Caitlin McPherran
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Lombardi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D002653:Child Behavior Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D002654:Child Care / Q000523:psychology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology; D002658:Developmental Disabilities / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology*; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology; D004651:Employment / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income; D007223:Infant; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D009034:Mother-Child Relations / Q000208:ethnology; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D057216:Propensity Score; D013997:Time Factors; D014504:Urban Health; D055815:Young Adult