Search Results

Source: Department of Sociology and Anthropology, North Carolina State University
Resulting in 2 citations.
1. Greenstein, Theodore N.
Maternal Employment and Child Behavior Problems: A Household Economics Analysis
Working Paper, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, North Carolina State University, March 1992
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79
Publisher: Department of Sociology and Anthropology, North Carolina University
Keyword(s): Behavior Problems Index (BPI); Behavioral Problems; Child Care; Education; Fathers, Absence; General Assessment; Home Observation for Measurement of Environment (HOME); Income; Maternal Employment

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

This research employs the household economics approach to study the effects of maternal employment and alternates of child care during infancy on the social behavior of a national sample of children ages four and five years. Mothers from the National Longitudinal Survey's Youth Cohort were asked to rate their child's social behavior using items the Behavioral Problems Index. Four major hypotheses derived from the household economics approach were tested: (1 that household income will interact with indicators of maternal employment in producing effects on child behavioral outcomes; (2) that there is an interaction between household income and use of alternate child care such that children in alternate care from high-income households will tend to have more behavioral problems than children from low-in households; (3) that emotional support level will interact with indicators of maternal employment during infancy; (4) that level of emotional support will interact with type of child care used during infancy. The results of the support the first three hypotheses. Overall, the data do not support the contention that maternal employment or alternate care during infancy--by themselves or in conjunction with characteristics of the home environment such a household income and emotional support--have long-term negative effects on the behavior of young children.
Bibliography Citation
Greenstein, Theodore N. "Maternal Employment and Child Behavior Problems: A Household Economics Analysis." Working Paper, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, North Carolina State University, March 1992.
2. Wills, Jeremiah B.
Maternal Employment, Relative Income, and Child Well-Being: The Effects of Gendered Household Resource Allocation on Children's Cognitive Development Trajectories
Ph.D. Dissertation, North Carolina State University, 2007
Cohort(s): Children of the NLSY79
Publisher: Department of Sociology and Anthropology, North Carolina University
Keyword(s): Family Income; Growth Curves; Home Observation for Measurement of Environment (HOME); Maternal Employment; Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Math); Peabody Individual Achievement Test (PIAT- Reading)

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

In this study, I extend the scholarship on maternal employment and the allocation of household resources by evaluating the effects of mothers' time spent in the labor force and mothers' relative income on children's cognitive development. I use a gendered resource allocation model that recognizes differences in investment preferences between men and women and how women can use increases in their relative earnings to direct greater amounts of family resources towards enrichment goods and services that promote child well-being. Support for this model comes mostly from research conducted outside of the United States. This study contributes to this research literature by using an American sample drawn from the Children of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979. In addition, I contribute to the research on maternal employment and child outcomes with a longitudinal analysis of children's cognitive development trajectories from age five to 14. I find some negative effects on children's initial levels of cognitive skills for measures of both early and current maternal employment hours. Some of these effects are moderated by race, the supportiveness of children's home environment, and mothers' cognitive skills. Contrary to predictions from a gendered resource allocation model, I find that children's cognitive development is lowest in households in which mothers' and fathers' incomes approximate parity, likely because of a lack of clear specialization in such households. I discuss these findings in terms of theoretical, research, and policy applications.
Bibliography Citation
Wills, Jeremiah B. Maternal Employment, Relative Income, and Child Well-Being: The Effects of Gendered Household Resource Allocation on Children's Cognitive Development Trajectories. Ph.D. Dissertation, North Carolina State University, 2007.