Early Maternal Employment and Child Development in 5 OECD

CountriesISCI Conference

York, 28 July 2011

María Carmen HuertaOECD, Social Policy Divisionwww.oecd.org/els/social/family/ www.oecd.org/social/family/doingbetter

Outline

• Background information

• Aim of study and data

• Results

• Conclusions

Poverty rates among households with children by employment status, 2005/08

Source: OECD (2011), Doing Better for Families

Having parents in work is key to reducing poverty risks

Background

Today most mothers are in paid work

Maternal employment rates, women aged 15-64, by age of the youngest child, 2007

Source: OECD Family Database (www.oecd.org/els/social/family/database), indicator LMF1.2

Background

Evidence from the literature • Previous studies have found mixed results.

• In general, full-time maternal employment during the first year is associated with poorer child outcomes - especially poorer cognitive outcomes - but effects are small. • Evidence from UK and US, in other countries evidence is less extensive.

Aim of the study

• First international study examining whether early maternal employment matters for outcomes of children of the 21st century.

• Data: Birth cohort studies in 5 OECD countries: – Australia - The Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC);– Canada - National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY); – Denmark - Danish Longitudinal Survey of Children (DALSC); – UK - Millennium Cohort Study (MCS);– US - Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS-B)

•

Data

• Outcome variables:– Child outcomes: cognitive development, conduct problems and attention deficit.

• ‘Focal’ variable:– Maternal employment: < 6months full-time, <6 months part-time, 6-11 months, not in paid work by

12 months.

• Other control variables:– Child characteristics – Mother characteristics– Family characteristics

•

Results

• Many mothers are in paid work by child’s first birthday. However, timing and intensity varies across countries.

Results

• Early maternal employment is weakly linked to cognitive development - association is negative and marginally significant in the UK and the US

• Relationship between maternal employment and child cognitive outcomes differs across family types …

Always sole-parent

Separated or reconstituted Intact Always sole-

parentSeparated or reconstituted Intact

Early maternal employment<6 months in full-time work -0.72 -0.58 0.20 -0.86 -1.34***

[0.85] [0.45] [0.97] [1.07] [0.6]

<6 months in part-time work 0.13 -0.61* 0.58 1.20 -0.89[0.72] [0.36] [1.37] [1.17] [0.58]

6-11 mths in paid work -0.8 0.71 -0.54 -0.29 -1.18 -0.58[1.30] [0.72] [0.36] [1.09] [1.37] [0.73]

COGNITIVE SCORES

UK (age 5 -vocabulary) US (age 4- vocabulary)

1.2[1.41]

Coefficients of early maternal employment on vocabulary tests, by family structure

Results

… and differs across children with parents with different overall levels of educational attainment

Low Medium High Low Medium High

Early maternal employment<6 months in full-time work -0.01 -1.1* -3.05** -0.11 -1.14*

[0.59] [0.56] [1.65] [0.52] [0.68]<6 months in part-time work 0.24 -1.3** -1.52 -0.34 0.33

[0.43] [0.48] [2.31] [0.67] [0.67]6-11 mths in paid work -1.72 -0.10 -0.8* -3.78* 0.39 -0.63

[1.59] [0.45] [0.47] [2.] [0.65] [0.93]

Cognitive scoresUK (age 5 - vocabulary) US (age 4 - vocabulary)

-0.64[1.62]

Coefficients of early maternal employment on vocabulary tests, by parental education

Results

• Maternal employment is only one of many factors influencing cognitive and behavioural outcomes, but it is not the most relevant.

• Promoting parenting activities like reading to children is important for child development.

• Cautious on drawing policy implications.

• Further analyses are needed to identify whether results vary by quality of formal care and father’s involvement.

• Nev

Conclusions

More information• Maria.HUERTA@oecd.org

• www.oecd.org/els/social

• OECD Family Databasewww.oecd.org/social/family/database

• OECD (2011), Doing Better for Families www.oecd.org/social/family/doingbetter

• OECD (2009), Doing Better for Children www.oecd.org/els/social/childwellbeing