Early Maternal Employment and Child Cognitive Outcomes: Evidence from the UK and US

1. Early Maternal Employmentand Child Cognitive Outcomes: Evidence from the UK and US Denise D. Hawkes University of Greenwich and Centre for Longitudinal Studies, IoE. Danielle A. Crosby University of North Carolina at Greensboro

2. Study Motivation • Over the past two decades two important trends in the female labour market have been observed: • an increase in the proportion of women in employment • an increase in the participation of mother’s following child birth • Continued questions about the impact of maternal employment and leave policies on the well-being of young children

3. Prior Literature • Several US studies, using a variety of methods, find that mothers’ employment during infant’s first year is associated with poorer outcomes (e.g., Waldfogel, Han, & Brooks-Gunn, 2002; Ruhm, 2004) • Somewhat similar findings emerge from studies in the UK, but effects have tended to be smaller than those noted for US samples (e.g., Gregg, Washbrook, Propper, & Burgess, 2005; Verropoulou & Joshi, 2007) • To what extent are these effects linked to employment and parental leave policies?

4. Selection Issues • Challenges in identifying the true causal effects of mothers’ employment and determining the potential impact of policy • Mothers who choose, are able, or are required to work may differ from those who do not in ways that matter for children’s development (e.g., education) • Work decisions may also depend on child characteristics • Selection processes may differ across SES groups • Selection may also be influenced by policy contexts

5. Policy Setting in UK • Statuary Maternity Leave • First 4 months paid and then 3 months unpaid • Statuary Paternity Leave • 2 weeks paid leave • Sure Start • government programme aimed at bring together, early education, childcare, health and family support through their children’s centres which are mainly located in disadvantaged areas in England

6. UK cont. • New Deal • Lone parents • Benefits • Tax Credits • Working Families Tax Credit • Children’s Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit • European Laws • European Working Time Directive • European Social Charter

7. Policy Setting in US • Parental Leave Policies • 12 weeks of unpaid, but job-protected, leave • Leave may be used for the birth of a child; adoption of a child; the illness of a spouse, child or parent; or, the employee’s own health condition. • Employers may require that workers use any vacation or sick leave time they have as part of the 12 weeks. • Employers may deny leave to highest paid 10% of its work force (“key” employees) if leave would create problems for the firm

8. US cont. • Head Start • Head Start provides a full range of services (including nutritious meals and snacks, immunizations, and opportunities for parental involvement) to disadvantaged children. Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) • Strongly employment orientated • Earned Income Tax Credit, Child Care Tax Credit • No guarantee of child care assistance to any groups

9. Current Study: Research Aims • Use contemporary, longitudinal birth cohort data for nationally representative samples in the US and UK to address the following questions: • How do patterns of mothers’ employment post-birth differ across these two policy/institutional contexts? • What do these data reveal about selection into employment for different groups? • Considering selection issues, what are the effects of early employment on children’s cognitive outcomes?

10. Dataset 1: MCS • Millennium Cohort Study • nationally-representative sample of UK births in 2000/2 (n = 18,500+) over-sampled those who live in areas of: high child poverty, high concentrations of ethnic minorities and the Celtic countries of the UK • in-depth data collected from parent interviews, direct child assessments, observations of home and care settings, and care provider surveys • data available from administrative sources and collected at 9 mos, 3 yrs, 4 ys, and 7 yrs

11. Dataset 2: ECLS-B • Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort • nationally-representative sample of US births in 2001 (n = 10,600+) • over-sampled twins, low birth weight infants, and several racial/ethnic groups of interest • in-depth data collected from parent interviews, direct child assessments, observations of home and care settings, and care provider surveys • data available from birth certificates and collected at 9 mos, 2 yrs, 4 ys, and 6 yrs

12. Analysis Sample • Focus on low-educated mothers • policy-relevant group • Sample size of women in the low-educated group: • 7300 MCS mothers • 5052 ECLS-B mothers

13. Key Variables • Child Outcomes • School Readiness • Vocabulary • Behaviour • Early Employment • Return in first three months • Return between four and six months • Return between seven and nine months • Not employed in first nine months

14. Other Independent Variables • Developmental Controls • Age in months and Sex • Child Characteristics • First born, Multiple birth, Low Birth Weight, Mother ever tried breastfeeding, Mother ever smoked during pregnancy, Mother received prenatal care in first trimester • Mothers Characteristics • Mother’s age at birth, Education, Ethnicity, Employed at nine months, General health, Longstanding illness • Family Characteristics • Partnership status, Number of other children in the household, Grandparents in household, Household income, English is primary language spoken at home, Owner occupied home • Area Charateristics

15. Distribution of early employment

16. Results - Selection • MCS • Less employment with multiple birth, Pakistani/Bangladeshi, more children, • More employment with first birth, age at birth 25-29, employment prior to birth, grandparent in household, owner occupier, London • ECLS-B • Less employment with multiple birth, more children, marriage and work limiting condition • More employment with Asian Pacific Islander or Multiracial ethnicity, higher education, employment prior to birth, and living in the Midwest

17. Results – School Readiness • MCS  • In basic model, early employment has a positive effect on this outcome, later is better. In full model, no early employment effect found. • ECLS-B • In full model, work in first 9 months is associated with higher scores; model with categories to capture timing of entry into employment indicates positive effects for employment that begins after child is 3 months old.

18. Results - Vocabulary • MCS • In basic model, early employment has a positive effect on this outcome, later is better. In full model, no early employment effect found. • ECLS-B  • No relationship between early employment and language scores

19. Results - Behaviour • MCS • In basic model, early employment has a positive effect on this outcome, later is better. In full model, no early employment effect found to be negative and significant at 10%. • ECLS-B  • Employment begun between 3 and 6 months is associated with slightly less problem behaviour

20. Summary • MCS • Cognitive outcomes (school readiness and vocabulary) unaffected by mother’s employment in the early months once mother’s characteristics included. • Behavioural outcomes worse for those with mother’s employed early • ECLS-B • School readiness better for those with working mothers • Vocabulary unaffected by mother’s employment in early months • Behavioural outcomes worse for those with mother’s employed early

21. Next Steps • Potential sub-group analysis: • low educated mothers who were employed one year before the birth of the cohort member • low educated mothers for whom the cohort member is their first child • Further paper using SEM to understand more fully the processes and to fully integrate the impact of the selection into employment process