11 Working Parents
My husband and I have decided to start a family while
my parents are still young enough to look after them.— Rita RudnerIn rich countries few mothers worked outside the house in
1900, except for the very poorest.^1 Today the majority do
(see Figure 11.1). In most advanced countries this is the big-
gest single social change of the last century. No longer do
most women give birth to large numbers of children, most
of whom die. Instead they have careers and earn money.
But what does this do to their children? There is no more
contentious subject of debate in cafés or around the din-
ner table. But the weight of evidence from ALSPAC is that,
other things held constant (including income), mother’s
work has no marked effect, good or bad, on the emotional
health of her children.
In ALSPAC we know at what month after the birth of
the child the mother returned to paid work (which tells us
what fraction of the child’s first year of life the mother spent
working). We also know at which of the nine subsequent
times she was questioned she was working.^2 This gives us
two key pieces of information. One is the proportion of the
first year of the child’s life for which the mother worked.
The other is the proportion of the remaining years of child-
hood during which the mother worked. What difference
does it make if the mother worked, and when?