Not everyone agrees with the article, “Mounting Evidence of Advantages for Children of Working Mothers,” in the New York Times, May 15, 2015 about a new “study of adults in 25 countries showed that having a working mother had some economic, educational and social benefits for children of both sexes,”
The author, Claire Cain Miller, says:
“Nearly three-quarters of American mothers with children at home are employed. That fact doesn’t necessarily make it any easier for mothers to drop a toddler at day care or miss school plays. The mommy wars might seem like a relic of the 1990s, but 41 percent of adults say the increase in working mothers is bad for society, while just 22 percent say it is good, according to the Pew Research Center.”
“Yet evidence is mounting that having a working mother has some economic, educational and social benefits for children of both sexes. That is not to say that children do not also benefit when their parents spend more time with them – they do. But we make trade-offs in how we spend our time, and research shows that children of working parents also accrue benefits.”
“In a new study of 50,000 adults in 25 countries, daughters of working mothers completed more years of education, were more likely to be employed and in supervisory roles and earned higher incomes. Having a working mother didn’t influence the careers of sons, which researchers said was unsurprising because men were generally expected to work – but sons of working mothers did spend more time on child care and housework.”
“Some of these effects were strong in the United States. Here, daughters of working mothers earned 23 percent more than daughters of stay-at-home mothers, after controlling for demographic factors, and sons spent seven and a half more hours a week on child care and 25 more minutes on housework.”
The critics of the study say there is not enough information about the mothers, or other factors that might apply. This Grandma agrees with both sides, but thinks the focus should be on maternal guilt.
This Grandma thinks the culprit is maternal guilt. It is time to do away with maternal guilt forever. Everyone should have the opportunity to make decisions for his and her unique family that are not the subject of anyone’s business. Grandmas out there should not make any judgment regarding the choice of the family to have two working parents. . . .out loud anyway.
Children grow up healthy and happy with two healthy and happy parents. Conflict destroys children. Every family can make their own choices and adapt to their choice.
After getting though all the debate in the article, it seems that the end result the author comes to is one that this Grandma took nearly fifty years of working to realize:
“In the United States, it turns out that attitudes about working parents depend a lot on a family’s circumstances, like whether parents are happy with their child care and need the income, said Kathleen Gerson, a sociologist at New York University. The question is not just how working affects children, but how to deal with challenges like long and unpredictable hours and a lack of child care.”
“Even in the U.S., where we continue to have this debate,” Ms. Gerson said, “we found that most people believe the right decision for a family is the one that works best for them.”
As grandparents, it is our job to support the family and strengthen the relationship of the parents of our grandchildren. No one talks about the role of grandparents in making everything happen. So many of us are the child care for the working parents, or their support and respite.
Now let’s help the working parents of our grandchildren stop feeling guilty too. Pass along the New York Times article.
Joy,
Mema
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