Research That Matters (January 17 - 20, 2008)

Purpose. A 24-7 economy has increasingly become the norm in our daily lives, and to provide the conveniences of this economy an increasing proportion of the workforce is composed of nonstandard hours -- hours that are not between 6 A.M. and 6 P.M.. Those who are African American, low-educated, and/or low-skilled are disproportionately more likely to work at nonstandard hours. Moreover, families with young children (under age 6) are also more likely to work at nonstandard hours. Empirical studies have shown the potential negative effects of working nonstandard schedules on adults' psychological, physical, and sociological well-being. These findings raise concerns about the potential impact – direct or indirect – of parents' nonstandard work schedules on their children's well-being. We know little, however, about the relationship between parental nonstandard work schedules and child development. This paper explores the relationship between maternal work schedules and child behavioral outcomes for children age 4 to 10. Special attention was also given to subgroups of children (e.g., family type, welfare status, mother's occupation, and work hours) and the patterns of parental work schedules.

Methods. Using a large contemporary data set, the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth-Child Supplement (NLSY-CS), 1,972 children were followed since birth until age 10. The sample consists of all the children in the NLSY-CS whose mothers had ever worked since the time of the child's birth and who can be followed longitudinally to age 10, with no missing data for any of the outcome variables. Of this sample, 51% are non-Hispanic white, 29% are non-Hispanic African American, and 20% are Hispanic. Children's behavioral problems were measured by using the Behavioral Problems Index (BPI). Two empirical approaches were use to account for selection bias and omitted variables in estimating the effects of maternal employment, one is an extensive set of child, mother, and family characteristics controlled for in the model, and the other is the use of ordinary least square, random-effect, and child fixed-effect models.

Results. Regression results suggest that maternal nonstandard work schedules may contribute to more behavior problems. The strongest effect of maternal nonstandard work schedules were found for children who live in single-mother or welfare families, whose mothers work in cashier or service occupations, and whose mothers working at nonstandard hours for full-time.

Conclusions and Implications. Family type, welfare status, mother's occupation, and the patterns of parental work schedules and work hours make a substantial difference in the links between children's behavioral problems and maternal nonstandard work schedules. Evidence provided in this paper has implications for practitioners identify the potential needs of young children with working mothers, especially those of single mothers influenced by the strict working requirement due to welfare reform. For example, we need to better understand the consequences that maternal work schedules have for children when that employment is undertaken “involuntarily,” whether it is because of a spouse's unemployment, restrictions in welfare benefits, or other factors that might push women to work nonstandard hours that they might not have otherwise chosen.