Children unharmed by mothers' return to work

The US study of more than 1,000 children found that although there are some drawbacks to women going back to work in their child's first year, these were balanced by the benefits of mothers having larger incomes - as they were more likely to place their children in high-quality childcare.

However, the findings also revealed that children whose mothers worked less than 30 hours a week scored slightly higher in cognitive tests than those whose mothers worked full-time.

The findings contradict previous studies implying that a child's cognitive and social development suffers if mothers go back to work (News, 15 March 2001).

The research team, from the Columbia University School of Social Work, say the study is the first to examine all consequences of a mother returning to work, including factors outside the home, such as parent-child interactions, income and childcare.

Dr Han, associate professor at Columbia, said, 'We found little or no evidence that first-year maternal employment affected child attachment.

The more important factors are those related to the quality of parenting and children's experiences of childcare.'

Researchers analysed the data from the NICHD Early Child Care longitudinal study, which followed children from ten sites across the US from birth to age seven.

Dr Brooks-Gunn, co-director of the National Center for Children and Families, said, 'The new data from this study should alleviate some of the parental concerns about the negative effects maternal working might have on child outcomes.'

The study, entitled First maternal employment and child development in the first 7 years, is published in the July edition of the Society for Research in Child Development.