For the ladies who say their job had no affect on their kids.
Abstract
The effects of maternal employment on children’s health are theoretically ambiguous and challenging to identify. There are trade-offs between income and time, and a mother’s decision to work reflects, in part, her children’s health and her underlying preferences. I utilize exogenous variation in each child’s youngest sibling’s eligibility for kindergarten as an instrument. Using the restricted-access National Health Interview Survey (1985-2004), I identify the effects on overnight hospitalizations, asthma episodes, and injuries/poisonings for children ages 7-17. Maternal employment increases the probability of each adverse health event by nearly 200 percent. These effects are robust and do not reflect a non-representative local effect.
Re: Working Womens Kids More Likely to be Sick or Poisoned
Yeah, I'm gonna be one of those working women. And yes, I do agree that my kids are going to be a bit more neglected than the kids of a stay-at-home mom. But not much with a cooperative husband.
But there is a trade off.
If I work, my kids won't have to worry
-if my husband turns out to be a jerk
-if my husband falls sick/becomes disabled
-about their tuition not being paid if they happen to not be smart enough to earn scholarships
-if they are diagnosed with a major illness that can make a single-income family bankrupt
-my parents don't have to worry about their old age if they don't have sons or have good-for-nothing sons
-And yes, I don't have to stay in a bad marriage if I get unlucky
Re: Working Womens Kids More Likely to be Sick or Poisoned
As a teacher.....I've seen some housewives who can't seem to handle their kids and the responsibilities that come with them (really sad and pathetic examples that reflect a lack of interest and involvement and the priorities are not in the right order)....and I've seen examples of working mothers who are very on top of things when it comes to their kids. I've also seen positive examples of the former and negative examples of the latter.
Re: Working Womens Kids More Likely to be Sick or Poisoned
Next will come the "Quality time versus Quantity of time" argument : )
Necessity based work requirements aside, we should ask the kids themselves about what they prefer. Their mothers being away for 10 hours a day or being with them during that time.
Re: Working Womens Kids More Likely to be Sick or Poisoned
agree with what RV said !
Plus when you are not in someone's shoes don't judge them. There can be a million reasons for a woman / working mother to work. You don't know what is going on her in her life , you don't fulfil her needs , you don't pay her bills , you don't know what her problems and life objective are so don't judge her.
Sickness can come to any child. Viruses and infections / diseases don't see that if the child is from a working mother or a stay at home mother.
Re: Working Womens Kids More Likely to be Sick or Poisoned
Icon's a smart doctor, so he backed up his fact with sound research (From the NIH). I think its pretty obvious, it cant be the same when the mother is working. I am not saying they shouldn't work, but making the point that it doesn't affect their kids is just a moot point. At the same time, ideally the man should make enough money so that the woman is not compelled to work at all. Wane, when the kids are below 10, what they want isn't their sole prerogative.
Re: Working Womens Kids More Likely to be Sick or Poisoned
ps. kids start school at 3 or 4, they spend a good amount of time @ school, what 10 hrs are we talking about?
My bad Lusi, its 12 hours including the commute time : )
Anyways. I guess we could make a long list of social benefits but the point remains that child gets neglected physically & emotionally, when the mother is away. He will get used to it after some time but it doesn't mean that he is actually OK with it.
Re: Working Womens Kids More Likely to be Sick or Poisoned
i don't think it's true at all, my aunt worked her whole life and had my grandma stay with them. she helped my aunt with everything regarding the kids and there was no poisoning or getting sicker than kids of stay at home moms.
Re: Working Womens Kids More Likely to be Sick or Poisoned
So based on a personal experience, you dismiss this report? Nisha! :hinna:
Also, no one can argue against the report. Its straight up obvious. Sure, there’s a lot of working women who raise great kids and no one can deny that but we’re talking numbers here. Not every woman is Supermom and the report acknowledges its not 100% in the deep end, just the majority.
EDIT: For what its worth, I admire women who can juggle both tasks but that is awfully rare.
Re: Working Womens Kids More Likely to be Sick or Poisoned
i don't think it's true at all, my aunt worked her whole life and had my grandma stay with them. she helped my aunt with everything regarding the kids and there was no poisoning or getting sicker than kids of stay at home moms.
the article seems biased, just sayin
Bibi jee, its the National Institute of Health, and you cant even say they're biased because if they were, you'd expect a western source to be skewed to the other direction. Think about it, it's obvious that if a none of the parents are around to spend the most important time in a child's upbringing at home, the child is at the mercy of whoever is in charge.
p.s. I've seen here on this forum everyone's quoting their own examples and passing that on as a clear verdict. Sorry but I would take NIH's research as an authority over these little 'oh my relatives auntys uncles bachas tayas did that and never got poisoned' sorta anecdotes. The comparison of your anecdote is not even remotely logical. NIH's research was done to prove through probabilistically acquired means about the likeliness, and you dismissed this well researched and self explanatory research by citing one example of your aunt.
Re: Working Womens Kids More Likely to be Sick or Poisoned
I do not see any extra advantage of a kid starting pre-school at a young age, may be becuase I see my sister as a SAHM example and she puts effort in teaching her kids and all.
I work and my son goes to a daycare and I think that my son takes less time in socializing at a get together than my nieces or other kids who stay at home but this does not mean that my nieces do not eventually socialize at all. They just take a little more time to overcome thier shyness but once a kid is passed that shyness there is no stopping them.
My niece stays at home but my sister is teaching her and I do not think she will lag behnd other kids once she goes to school inshaAllah.
It may be hard for a 5 year old to adjust in school but I think it is more hard for a younger kid when he/she has to adjust at preschool/daycare.
I wish I could be with my son all the time but I do not think someone can question a mother's love for her child just because she is working or assume she is neglecting her child or is not able to juggle both work and home.
If my son had an option, he would want me to stay with him at his daycare and play with his friends/classmates. He enjoys playing there but I am sure he d rather be with me.
When I drop him off he does not want me to leave and when I pick him up he does not want to leave the place.
Family is not an option always or for everyone. If I had any family here I would leave my son with them but I dont. My friend has her inlaws here in US and they said they would not look after her child without her even asking if they would.
PS: In the abstract author identified overnight hospitalizations, asthma attacks and injuries etc in kids aged 7-17 increases with maternal employment which is not what is being discussed here. and I do not see how my work would increase these events once my kid is 7 or older.
Edit: I just realized that it would increase the chances as the kid probably is home alone after school at this age.
Re: Working Womens Kids More Likely to be Sick or Poisoned
Bibi jee, its the National Institute of Health, and you cant even say they're biased because if they were, you'd expect a western source to be skewed to the other direction. Think about it, it's obvious that if a none of the parents are around to spend the most important time in a child's upbringing at home, the child is at the mercy of whoever is in charge.
p.s. I've seen here on this forum everyone's quoting their own examples and passing that on as a clear verdict. Sorry but I would take NIH's research as an authority over these little 'oh my relatives auntys uncles bachas tayas did that and never got poisoned' sorta anecdotes. The comparison of your anecdote is not even remotely logical. NIH's research was done to prove through probabilistically acquired means about the likeliness, and you dismissed this well researched and self explanatory research by citing one example of your aunt.
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