The effects of maternal employment on the health of school-age children

Melinda Morrill

Journal of Health Economics, 2011, vol. 30, issue 2, 240-257

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.

Keywords: Children's; health; Maternal; employment; Women's; labor; supply (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (57)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jhecon:v:30:y:2011:i:2:p:240-257

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