1. Early Maternal Employment and Child Development in 5 OECD Countries ISCI Conference York, 28 July 2011 María Carmen Huerta OECD, Social Policy Division www.oecd.org/els/social/family/ www.oecd.org/social/family/doingbetter

2. Outline Background information Aim of study and data Results Conclusions

3. Poverty rates among households with children by employment status, 2005/08 Source: OECD (2011), Doing Better for Families Having parents in work is key to reducing poverty risks Background

4. Today most mothers are in paid work Maternal employment rates, women aged 15-64, by age of the youngest child, 2007 Source: OECD Family Database ( www.oecd.org/els/social/family/database), indicator LMF1.2 www.oecd.org/els/social/family/database Background

5. Evidence from the literature Previous studies have found mixed results. In general, full-time maternal employment during the first year is associated with poorer child outcomes - especially poorer cognitive outcomes - but effects are small. Evidence from UK and US, in other countries evidence is less extensive.

6. Aim of the study First international study examining whether early maternal employment matters for outcomes of children of the 21st century. Data: Birth cohort studies in 5 OECD countries: – Australia - The Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC); – Canada - National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY); – Denmark - Danish Longitudinal Survey of Children (DALSC); – UK - Millennium Cohort Study (MCS); – US - Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS-B)

7. Data Outcome variables: –Child outcomes: cognitive development, conduct problems and attention deficit. ‘Focal’ variable: –Maternal employment: < 6months full-time, <6 months part-time, 6-11 months, not in paid work by 12 months. Other control variables: –Child characteristics –Mother characteristics –Family characteristics

8. Results Many mothers are in paid work by child’s first birthday. However, timing and intensity varies across countries.

9. Results Early maternal employment is weakly linked to cognitive development - association is negative and marginally significant in the UK and the US

10. Relationship between maternal employment and child cognitive outcomes differs across family types … Coefficients of early maternal employment on vocabulary tests, by family structure Results

11. … and differs across children with parents with different overall levels of educational attainment Coefficients of early maternal employment on vocabulary tests, by parental education Results

12. Maternal employment is only one of many factors influencing cognitive and behavioural outcomes, but it is not the most relevant. Promoting parenting activities like reading to children is important for child development. Cautious on drawing policy implications. Further analyses are needed to identify whether results vary by quality of formal care and father’s involvement. Nev Conclusions

13. More information Maria.HUERTA@oecd.orgMaria.HUERTA@oecd.org www.oecd.org/els/social OECD Family Database www.oecd.org/social/family/database OECD (2011), Doing Better for Families www.oecd.org/social/family/doingbetter www.oecd.org/social/family/doingbetter OECD (2009), Doing Better for Children www.oecd.org/els/social/childwellbeing www.oecd.org/els/social/childwellbeing