Working ParentsCohort Study). These children likewise showed no loss of
mental health if their mothers went quickly back to work.^4
Equally, in adolescence, children aged 11– 15 in the youth
section of the BHPS reported higher levels of happiness if
their mothers were at work.^5
Mother’s Work and the Behavior of Her Child
But even if the mother’s own child fares all right, what about
that child’s behavior to others? Here there is a long- standing
debate about whether being looked after in a nursery or by
a child minder makes a child more aggressive. Many surveys
have examined the behavioral effects of children’s preschool
experience both in the United States and UK.^6 US studies
tend to find some adverse effects of nursery care while Brit-
ish ones generally do not. Our own ALSPAC results suggest
no marked effect of being cared for in a nursery or with
a minder in the early years (see Table 11.2). But they do
reveal important effects at 11 and 16— where on average
Table 11.1. How children’s emotional well- being is affected by
mother’s work (ALSPAC)Proportion of time
mother worked
Effect on standardized emotional well- being at16 11 5In the 1st year −0.05 (.04) −0.09 (.04) −0.04 (.03)
Thereafter (up to
age shown)
−0.03 (.06) −0.02 (.04) 0.07 (.03)