child cognitive outcomes and early maternal employment in the uk and us

following lives from birth and through the adult years www.cls.ioe.ac.ukfollowing lives from birth and through the adult years www.cls.ioe.ac.uk

Evidence from the first sweeps of the UK Millennium Cohort Study and the US Early Childhood Longitudinal Study

Danielle A. Crosby and Denise D. Hawkes

28th November 2006

Child Cognitive Outcomes and Early Maternal Employment in the UK and US


Outline of Presentation

Research questions Why an international comparison? Data Model of early maternal employment Results of determinants of early maternal employment Model of child cognitive outcomes Results of child cognitive outcomes Challenges of comparing these datasets


Main Research Question Interested in the impact of early maternal employment on child

cognitive development

HOWEVER: Which mothers are employed? What are the characteristics of those who return to employment? Are these different from those who do not return to employment? Do these differences explain the difference in child outcomes

observed?

Therefore this paper will consider firstly the determinants of maternal employment and then taking these determinants into account the impact of early maternal employment on child cognitive development


The impact of government policy

One of the possible determinants of early maternal employment especially in the early months of life is government policies such as: Maternity Leave/Paternity Leave Child care provision Flexible working agreements/Parent friendly practices

The UK and the US have very different policy settings which could be exploited


UK Policy Context Statuary Maternity Leave

First 4 months statutory maternity pay and an additional 3 months unpaid job protected leave for mothers who have completed one year full service.

Statuary Paternity Leave 2 weeks paid leave

Sure Start government programme aimed at bring together, early

education, childcare, health and family support through their children’s centres which are mainly located in disadvantaged areas in England


UK Policy Context Cont. New Deal

This is an active labour market programme of intensive careers advice and application support followed by possibly education/training or subsidised job.

Benefits Tax Credits

Working Families Tax Credit Children’s Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit

European Laws European Working Time Directive European Social Charter


US Policy Context

Parental Leave Policies 12 weeks of unpaid, but job-protected, leave Leave may be used for the birth of a child; adoption of a

child; the illness of a spouse, child or parent; or, the employee’s own health condition.

Employers may require that workers use any vacation or sick leave time they have as part of the 12 weeks.

Employers may deny leave to highest paid 10% of its work force (“key” employees) if leave would create problems for the firm


US Policy Context Head Start

Head Start provides a full range of services (including nutritious meals and snacks, immunizations, and opportunities for parental involvement) to disadvantaged children.

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program Strongly employment orientated

Earned Income Tax Credit, Child Care Tax Credit No guarantee of child care assistance to any groups


What do these different policy contexts suggest?

In UK those in employment before the birth of their child are likely to return to employment 4-7 months after the birth of their child There maybe interesting differences with the UK as only

England has Sure Start In US all mothers are likely to return to employment

quickly after the birth of their child There may be interesting differences with the US as

state level provisions may vary


Millennium Cohort Study The MCS is a nationally-representative sample of

18,818 babies within 18,552 families The cohort members were born in the UK between

September 2000 and January 2002 and were living in selected UK wards at age 9 months

The sample was drawn to over-represent those who live in areas of high child poverty, areas of high concentrations of ethnic minorities and the Celtic countries of the UK

The first sweep was undertaken when the cohort members were 9 months old


Early Childhood Longitudinal Study – Birth Cohort The ECLS-B is a nationally-representative sample of

14,000 children within 10,221 families The cohort members were born in the US during the

year 2001 The sample was drawn to over-represent those who

are Asian and Pacific Islander children, American Indian and Alaska Native children, Chinese children, twins, and low and very low birth weight children.

The first sweep was undertaken when the cohort members were 9 months old


Comparability of StudiesSimilarities

Both surveys are large, longitudinal studies that follow a cohort of children born in 2000/2001.

In both surveys, the first sweep was undertaken when the cohort members were 9 months old.

Both datasets have a wealth of comparable information on the child, their family situation and their local neighborhood to draw on as possible correlates of early maternal employment. Data come from surveys, observations, and direct assessments.

Both datasets attempt to over-represent ethnic minority children (ECLS-B directly, MCS by area)


Comparability of StudiesDifferences

The MCS will follow cohort members through out their lives, designed as a a multi-purpose, multi-disciplinary dataset to “lay the foundation for future follow-ups of the cohort (and) develop links with other data sources”

The ECLS-B will follow cohort members until age 5-6 years, designed to consider “children's health, development, care, and education during the formative years from birth through kindergarten entry”

The MCS over samples those in areas of high child poverty whilst the ECLS-B also over samples twins and low birth weight children


Determinants of early maternal employment model

whereemp is a dummy for whether the mother has returned to work by the time the cohort child is 9 monthschild is a selection of child characteristics‘ for example being the first born childmother is a selection of mother characteristics’ for example their level of educationfamily is a selection of family characteristics’ for example if they live in owner occupied accommodationregion is a set of regional dummiespartner is a set of partner characteristics’ for example if the partner is employed – in the subgroup analysis of couples only

1 2 3 4 5emp = α + β child + β mother + β family + β region+ β partner + ε


MCS Descriptive Statistics – Month of employmentFor Natural Mothers

0-3 months 6% 11%

4-5 months 24% 50%

6-9 months 19% 39%

Not by 9 months 51% -

Observations 18389 8369


Child Characteristics’ First born 0.84

(0.74 - 0.96)**

Multiple birth 0.56

(0.38 - 0.83)**

Low birth weight 0.81

(0.66 - 0.99)*

Interviewed at 8 months 0.85

(0.65 - 1.11)

Interviewed at 11/12 months 0.90

(0.69 - 1.18)


Mother Characteristics’

Most likely to enter employment by 9 months if: between 20-34 years old at the time of birth hold qualifications black ethnic group not Pakistani or Bangladeshi AND if employed one year prior to birth of the cohort

child


Family Characteristics’ Partnership status: reference married

Single 0.51

(0.43 - 0.60)**

Cohabiting 1.03

(0.92 - 1.15)

Number of other children in the household 0.93

(0.86 - 0.99)*

Co-resident grandparents 1.51

(1.28 - 1.78)**

Living in owner occupied housing 1.63

(1.45 - 1.85)**


Region

London mothers are the least likely to enter employment by nine months

Mothers in the West Midlands and Yorkshire & Humberside are the most likely to enter employment by nine months


Subgroup Analysis 1

Single mothers only: Key determinants to entering employment are: if not first

birth, older than 19, qualifications, employment one year prior, co-resident grandparent, and owner occupied

Partnered mothers only: Key determinants to entering employment are: as for

single mothers plus if not multiple birth and if under 35 In addition partner characteristics include: if father

qualified to at least NVQ 3 (A-Levels)


Subgroup Analysis 2

Wenters only: Key determinants to entering employment are: under

35, qualifications, not Pakistani or Bangladeshi and not single

Returners only: Key determinants to entering employment are: as

wenters plus if not first birth, if not a multiple birth, older than 19, Black, co-resident grandparent, and owner occupied


Subgroup Analysis 3

Whites only: Key determinants to entering employment are: if first

born, if not a multiple birth, over 19, qualifications, partnered, co-resident grandparent, owner occupier

Non whites only: Key determinants to entering employment are: if over

35, qualifications, cohabiting, no other children in the household, owner occupier


Types of Jobs the MCS mothers enter Flexible working available

86% Part time work 36% Job share 42% Flexitime 22% Work at home 38% Special shifts

7954 observations

Family Friendly Policy 6% Childcare vouchers 10% Work nursery 6% Other childcare support 77% Time off for family

reasons 41% Paternity leave 34% Parental leave 57% Telephone for family

7954 observations


Child cognitive outcomes & maternal employment

wherecogout is the standarised BAS or Bracken score at 3 years oldemp is a two dummies for whether the mother has returned to work full time/part time by the time the cohort child is 9 monthsccare if two dummies for any formal/informal child care used in the first 9 monthschild is a selection of child characteristics‘ for example being the first born childmother is a selection of mother characteristics’ for example their level of educationfamily is a selection of family characteristics’ for example if they live in owner occupied accommodationregion is a set of regional dummies

1 2 3 4 5 6cogout = α + β emp+ ccare + child + β mother + β family + β region+ ε


Early employment and developmental measures at 9 months for MCS

Those who have return to part time or full time employment relative to those who have not worked in the first 9 months of their child’s life report significantly: more likely their children sleep through the night more likely their children can sit up more likely to be able to pass things from hand to hand less likely to nod


Early employment and cognitive measures at 3 years old for MCS

BAS Bracken

Mean

(Conf. Interval)

Mean

(Conf. Interval)

Full Time by 9 months

29.5

(24.9 , 34.2)

33.0

(26.1 , 39.8)

Part Time by 9 months

26.9

(22.8 , 31.1)

22.4

(16.9 , 27.9)

Not employed by 9 months

-0.05

(-0.10 , 0.01)

-0.05

(-0.10 , 0.01)


Bracken

Just considering employment

Controlling for childcare & selection

variables

Reference: no employment by 9 months

Part-Time 0.29

(10.8)

-0.05

(1.5)

Full-Time 0.37

(11.6)

-0.08

(2.4)



BAS

Just considering employment

Controlling for childcare & selection

variables

Reference: no employment by 9 months

Part-Time 0.34

(12.7)

-0.0004

(0.01)

Full-Time 0.34

(10.6)

-0.03

(1.0)



Challenges of comparing these datasets

The potential impacts of the differences in survey designs, aims and purposes

The challenge of lining up outcomes and predictors that are comparable, yet also meaningful and culturally relevant to the particular society from which the data come

In future work the challenge of incorporating the policy variables into the model.

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child cognitive outcomes and early maternal employment in the uk and us

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