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Maternal employment and overweight children: does timing matter?

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  • Stephanie von Hinke Kessler Scholder

Abstract

Recent literature has shown consistent evidence of a positive relationship between maternal employment and children's overweight status. These studies largely use average weekly work hours over the child's life to measure employment. This paper specifically aims at exploring the importance of the timing of employment. Using various econometric techniques to control for observable and unobservable child and family characteristics, the results show that full‐time maternal employment during mid‐childhood positively affects the probability of being overweight at age 16. There is no evidence that part‐time or full‐time employment at earlier/later ages affects this probability. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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  • Stephanie von Hinke Kessler Scholder, 2008. "Maternal employment and overweight children: does timing matter?," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 17(8), pages 889-906, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:hlthec:v:17:y:2008:i:8:p:889-906
    DOI: 10.1002/hec.1357
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    JEL classification:

    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply

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