Using data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics we explore the relationship between current and early maternal occupational complexity and preadolescent children's academic achievement in mathematics and reading. We measure white-collar occupational complexity with an index that incorporates task complexity, authority, and autonomy. Blue-collar occupational complexity is observed with a measure of task complexity with things. Controlling for differential selection into employment, we find that current maternal occupational complexity has positive associations with reading and mathematics scores for children, with stronger associations for sons. We find mixed associations between early maternal employment and children's academic achievement, suggesting that the influence of early maternal employment on child development declines as children age.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.