By
assessing the total impact on a child of the mother going out to work,
including factors outside the home, American academics claim to have produced
the first full picture of the effect of maternal employment on child cognitive
and social development. Their conclusion will provide comfort for thousands of
women who re-enter the employment market within a year of giving birth.
The good
news is that we can see no adverse effects. This research is unique because the
question we have always asked in the past has been: 'If everything else remains
constant, what is the effect of a mum going off to work?' But of course
everything else doesn't stay constant, so it's an artificial way of looking at
things.
Family
relationships, family income, the mental health of the mother all change when a
mother is working and so what the study did was to look at the full
impact, taking all of these things into account.
In one of
the most fraught areas of social policy and research, several studies over the
past two decades have suggested that children do worse if their mothers go back
to work in the first year of their lives.
Recent
research by the Institute for Social and Economic Research at Essex University
found that children of mothers who went back to work within the first three
years were slower learners, and a 2008 Unicef study recommended that mothers
stay at home for the first 12 months or "gamble" with their
children's development. The Pew Research Centre in Washington found high levels
of anxiety among women over the issue.
The new
study, led by New York's Columbia University School of Social Work, The
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child
Care followed more than 1,000 children from 10 geographic areas aged up to
seven, tracking their development and family characteristics. It found that,
while there are downsides to mothers taking work during their child's first
year, there were also significant advantages – an increase in mothers' income
and wellbeing, and a greater likelihood that children receive high-quality
childcare. Taking everything into account, the researchers said, the net effect
was neutral.
The effect
of the parenting itself is the key factor, It is hugely important how sensitive
you are to your child's needs. Even for women who have to work more than 30
hours a week, they can make things better for themselves, they just need to
take a deep breath on the doorstep, dump all the office worries behind them and
go in the door prepared to pay attention to all their children's cues. This is
good news for all mothers.
This is
especially good news for mothers, who typically go back to work after one
to 4 months because of the lack of maternity leave. Part-time work, up to 30
hours a week, provides more desirable outcomes than full-time employment.
Parents
welcomed the findings. Women should not feel guilty whatever choices they
make – and that does not mean you have to make the choice to work. Often it is
the more well-off women who have the choice, while many others have to
work. There is a notion that mothers should spend all their time with
their children but that is wrong. You need to also do things that are just for
you.
And a
career can give you
that.
Is this really the favourite concern with our nation. Not only is human procreation always in the mind of govt, even our favourite pandas are not spared....lol... 