Stay-At-Home Mom or Working Mom? New Findings Make the Decision Even More Difficult
New baby and not sure whether to go back to work? A difficult and gut-wrenching decision and for many, because of family finances or a strong personal need to work, it’s virtually not a choice. Now comes a report from the American Psychological Association (APA) that makes the decision even more difficult, especially for middle- and upper-income families.
While the title of the APA article about the research is Mothers’ Early Return to Work Not Associated with Negative Outcomes in Most Children, the key word is most.
The APA review of 50 years of research shows that, overall, children whose mothers return to work before their child turns three are no more likely to have academic or behavioral problems than kids whose mothers stay at home. However, when results are broken down, you see that children from lower-income households benefit more when the mother enters the work force compared to those where the mother stayed home. Middle- and upper-income families are slightly more likely to see decreases in achievement and increases in behavior problems later on if the mother returns to work before the child is three.
The children from lower-income homes benefit when mother goes back to work because the added income provides the family more resources and opportunities according to the authors. For higher-income homes, where those resources and opportunities are already there, there is a slight difference in outcome for the families in which the mother returned to work.
“This suggests that families who are not struggling financially may not see as many benefits of maternal employment on very young children,” said Lucas-Thompson, lead author of the study. “For these families, it’s possible that alternate care arrangements may not be as emotionally supportive as the child’s mother.”
Lucas-Thompson said these latter findings help support the calls for more flexible and generous maternity leave policies. “Our country does not compare very well with other developed countries in supporting new parents,” she said. “If parents could postpone work or if they were allowed to work fewer hours during that first year, I think it could only have positive effects on our children.”
To see the American Psychological Association article, click here.
(Source: newswise.com)
Posted on 21. Mar, 2011 by Patricia in Parenting
One Response to “Stay-At-Home Mom or Working Mom? New Findings Make the Decision Even More Difficult”
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Children don’t need “resources and opportunities” They need love and your time. As long as they are fed and sheltered from danger they have all the “resources” they need. There are plenty of very poor countries around the world which much better family values than us.