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Maternal work conditions and child development

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  • Felfe, Christina
  • Hsin, Amy

Abstract

How do maternal work conditions, such as psychological stress and physical hazards, affect children's development? Combining data from the Child Development Supplement of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics and the Occupational Information Network allows us to shed some light on this question. We employ various techniques including OLS with extensive controls, a value added approach and individual fixed effects in order to address potential endogeneity problems. Our results reveal that mothers’ exposure to work-related hazards negatively affects children's cognitive development and to work-related stress negatively affects children's behavioral development. While maternal time investments play a small but significant role in mediating these negative associations, paternal time investments neither reinforce nor compensate these associations.

Suggested Citation

  • Felfe, Christina & Hsin, Amy, 2012. "Maternal work conditions and child development," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(6), pages 1037-1057.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecoedu:v:31:y:2012:i:6:p:1037-1057
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2012.06.008
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Larissa Zierow, 2017. "Economic Perspectives on the Implications of Public Child Care and Schooling for Educational Outcomes in Childhood and Adult Life," ifo Beiträge zur Wirtschaftsforschung, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, number 76.
    2. Boll, Christina & Hoffmann, Malte, 2015. "It's not all about parents' education, it also matters what they do: Parents' employment and children's school success in Germany," HWWI Research Papers 162, Hamburg Institute of International Economics (HWWI).
    3. Felfe, Christina & Zierow, Larissa, 2018. "From dawn till dusk: Implications of full-day care for children’s development," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 259-281.
    4. Mark Ottoni-Wilhelm & Ye Zhang & David B. Estell & Neil H. Perdue, 2017. "Raising charitable children: the effects of verbal socialization and role-modeling on children’s giving," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 30(1), pages 189-224, January.
    5. Amy Hsin & Christina Felfe, 2014. "When Does Time Matter? Maternal Employment, Children’s Time With Parents, and Child Development," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 51(5), pages 1867-1894, October.
    6. Borgna, Camilla & Contini, Dalit, 2013. "Migrant Achievement Penalties in Western Europe. What Role for Educational Systems?," Department of Economics and Statistics Cognetti de Martiis. Working Papers 201342, University of Turin.
    7. Ylenia Brilli & Daniela Del Boca & Chiara Monfardini, 2013. "Child Care Arrangements: Determinants and Consequences," CHILD Working Papers Series 18, Centre for Household, Income, Labour and Demographic Economics (CHILD) - CCA.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Child development; Parenting behavior; Maternal work conditions;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
    • J81 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Standards - - - Working Conditions

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