Published 2000 (ISBN 1 902488 09 1) Price £29.95
A research study undertaken at the Centre for Longitudinal Studies and concerned with the long-term effects on children of mothers going out to work. The main study relates to children of mothers who were part of the 1958 birth cohort study (NCDS) while a supplementary analysis looks at young people born in 1970. The results were mixed, showing some small negative outcomes of a mother’s employment in the first year of a child’s life and some small positive outcomes of employment later on. Poor economic circumstances in the home and a mother’s own academic ability and attainments were more important predictors of a child’s academic and aggression scores than the mother’s employment. Children in families with no earner, other things being equal, scored more poorly on both maths and anxiety scores than children in families with at least one earner. The policy implications are discussed.