Mothers' work conditions, income, and parenting of young children

Objective In this study, we investigated the interplay of positive work conditions with parenting behaviors across children's first 4 years. Background Most mothers in United States are employed paid during their early Research typically has focused on ways that such employment can conflict intensive demands parenting, but it also help socially and psychologically important period development. Method Integrating federal survey data occupational reports job flexibility from 5,250 nationally representative Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort, estimated how were associated stimulating sensitive whether these associations stronger for lower income. Results autoregressive modeling demonstrated flexibility, opportunities mastery, connection positively a composite measure parenting. Significant interactions indicated many more pronounced Conclusion Our results build upon prior work, demonstrating support childhood is especially true low-income households. Implications These bridge work–family literatures policy implications, as adopting family-friendly policies within companies.