Mechanisms for the Association Between Maternal Employment and Child Cognitive Development

John Cawley () and Feng Liu

No 13609, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: Recent research has found that maternal employment is associated with worse child performance on tests of cognitive ability. This paper explores mechanisms for that correlation. We estimate models of instrumental variables using a unique dataset, the American Time Use Survey, that measure the effect of maternal employment on the mother's allocation of time to activities related to child cognitive development. We find that employed women spend significantly less time reading to their children, helping with homework, and in educational activities in general. We find no evidence that these decreases in time are offset by increases in time by husbands and partners. These findings offer plausible mechanisms for the association of maternal employment with child cognitive development.

JEL-codes: D1 I2 J22 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-lab
Date: Written 2007-11
Note: CH ED LS
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