Working Mothers Effects

This report is composed to analyze the effects of working mothers on child development as there have been a number of issues surfaced to cause non- governmental organisations as well societies around the globe to study the relationship between the two.

The process of maternal employment dates back to the 1940s, where just a mere 8.6 percent of mothers with small children worked outside of home (Hoffman 1998). Back to a few decades prior, the pattern of working mothers was uncommon but through years of battling gender inequality, a consistent increment in working mothers with a wider profession choice can be noted. More mothers have been in the work force since 1960. Working mothers had ended up modular by 1977. This shift is particularly

Working mothers lead to unfavourable impact on a child’s cognitive abilities and induce behavioural problems in children.

Working mothers are often associated with leaving an imprint on their children as when the child grows up, they will possess positive traits influenced by their working mother. This is not always the case especially since the findings from DeJong (2010) established that working mothers lead to an unfavourable impact on a child’s cognitive abilities. 71 percent of mothers are in the work force and more are spending hours of working due to economic pressure. This means less time is spent with their children thus cognitive implications may arise. Working mothers are more often to drop their children at day care centres than stay-at-home mothers. There are a lot of day care centres in the world, some can be of low quality. Under-qualified, over strained staff and poor service (Secure Teen 2013) might lead to sexual mistreat, neglect and lack of concern (Newsweek 1990) that can heavily affect a child’s physical and psychological health. A study by the Institute for Social and Economic Research (Carvel 2003) also associated lower educational development in children of working mothers. It is found that children score poorly in reading and calculation test when their mothers return to work before they

Mothers are largely back to work when their child is still a baby (Pelcovitz 2013). This phenomenon prompt working mothers to be over-burdened, and there is a possibility that working mothers will bring their frustration home. Their children who are excited to welcome their working mother home may be ignored, and this can create a harsh environment in time where children may act out due to their crave for attention from their working mother. In 1991, the National Institute of Child Health and Development commenced an in-depth study in ten centres in the United States and found that children were more affiliated with behavioral problems when their mother returns to work before the child turns three. Children with part-time working mothers had less unruly actions during infancy but a notable risk of behavioral difficulty was evident at age three and during first grade (Pelcovitz 2013). Another study by Gennetian, Lopoo and London indicated that offsprings of working mothers are more prone to play truancy, signaling behavioral problems (DeJong 2010). The fact is working mothers may bring more harm than good in child