From the Shop Floor to the Kitchen Floor

Abstract

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.

From Discovery to Practice: Translating and Transforming Work–Family Research for the Health of Families

“…Findings revealed that, for both mothers and fathers, reports of greater job autonomy across the child’s first year of life predicted less overreactive parenting and more involved parenting that, in turn, predicted greater adaptive skills and fewer behavior problems for children. Consistent with the work of Kohn (1977), Parcel and Menaghan (1994), and Yetis-Bayraktar, Budig, and Tomaskovic-Devey (2013), our data suggest that parents’ workplace environment is related to parenting styles, which in turn affect children. Thus, working-class parents who have the opportunity to experience self-direction and autonomy on the job are more likely to transmit those same values to their children at home through more sensitive and involved parenting.…”

Explanation of Children’s Health through Parents’ Mental Health and Job Satisfaction by Structural Equation Modeling

“…In addition, parents' working conditions are associated with not only their own but also their family members' health (Parcel & Menaghan, 1994;Vandell & Ramanan, 1992;Yetis-Bayraktar et al, 2013). In a review of the relevant research www.ccsenet.org/gjhs Global Journal of Health Science Vol.…”

“…Additionally, some studies have demonstrated a direct, significant association between working conditions and the health status of family members, including children (Parcel & Menaghan, 1994;Vandell & Ramanan, 1992;Yetis-Bayraktar, Budig, & Tomaskovic-Devey, 2013). Parents' poor socioeconomic status, including employment, may affect children's health and development, which is an important health factor over the course of the entire lifetime and potentially influences both childhood and adulthood (Ruijsbroek et al, 2011).…”

Maternal Occupation-Specific Skills and Children’s Cognitive Development

“…For example, Melvin Kohn and colleagues’ seminal work showed that what people experience in their jobs translates into value orientations and behaviours that they apply outside their workplace, for example parenting (Kohn and Schooler, 1982). Occupational characteristics such as maternal occupational complexity (task complexity, authority and autonomy) influence parental skills and value orientations, affecting their parenting styles and children’s cognitive outcomes and academic achievement (Parcel and Menaghan, 1994; Yetis-Bayraktar et al, 2013). Hook et al (2021) also found that occupational autonomy was positively associated with mothers’ time in interactive care.…”