Women working has no negative effects on children
Tue, 20 Oct 2009
Women who work have no negative impacts upon their children's development, a new study has indicated.
Researchers at the Institute of Education in London found little evidence to support the theory that mental or behavioural problems can stem from an absent mother during infancy.
Heather Joshi, co-author of the study and a professor at the institute, said other factors such as home stability have a bigger impact on child development.
She told the Guardian: "There was evidence in some cases of a small negative impact [of women returning to work] in earlier decades – particularly for those born to working mothers in the 1970s and 1980s.
"But when we looked at this other batch of children, mostly born in the 1990s, we found that this smallish wrinkle in a very complicated pattern was not visible."
Among the reasons for this shift include the advent of flexible working, greater levels of parental support, changing social attitudes and improvements to childcare arrangements.
Jane Hopkins, founder of MumsClub, recently claimed that mothers can balance a healthy work and family life by starting a small business.
She claimed that women with families are increasingly looking to earn income in a different way, by enterprising and innovating.
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