Chapter 11Mother’s Work and the
Emotional Health of Her ChildTable 11.1 answers the question, holding income constant.
As it shows, when the mother worked in the first year of
the child’s life, there is some negative effect on the child’s
emotional health, holding income constant. But, when we
take into account the relation of mother’s work and family
income, any negative effect disappears. If the mother works
in the subsequent years of childhood, there is no signifi-
cant negative effect even holding income constant— and the
gross effect is positive if enough other factors are taken into
account. Online Table A11.1 shows this gross effect, suitably
decomposed.^3
Similar findings to ours appear in the most recent cohort
study of children born in the year 2000 (the Millennium
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Child aged under 129Child 1–1662PercentFigure 11.1. Percentage of mothers in work: by age of
child