Research Proposal

All Work and No Play: The Effects of Early Parental Work Hours on Children’s Behavioral Outcomes

Emily Ruesch, Fall 2003

INTRODUCTION:

Over the course of the past several decades there has been a drastic increase of women in the American paid labor force. As this change began taking place, and now as it continues, there have been mixed opinions as to its effects on the families of participating women. It has been debated in both the business and the academic world by everyone from businessmen to sociologists to economists to the women themselves. The debates are over the availability of quality childcare and the extent of maternity leave provided to working mothers.

Many argue that the rising instances of two working parents per household are having detrimental effect on the cognitive, social, and behavioral development of children in this type of situation. Proposed solutions include encouraging mothers (or fathers) to stay home with children during their formative years so that they have the care, attention, and affection they need to develop to their fullest potential. Another solution would be promoting the availability of good daycare for children who do have two working parents. The question then becomes whether or not there is something inherently better about parental care, rather than institutional or some other form of secondary care.

This study will look at the actual variance in behavioral outcomes of children whose parents work different numbers of hours, and therefore, spent different amounts of time at home personally caring for their families. It will attempt to determine whether or not children at different ages are affected by parents who spend more hours working outside of the home, as well as the direction and degree of those effects. In addition, it will look at the variance in the effects when children are placed in different types of nonparental daycare.

RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS:

This paper will attempt to prove that there is indeed an adverse effect among children whose parents spend more time working outside the home, but that the presence or degree of that effect can be altered by other factors, including the socio-economic status of the family and the type of daycare in which the child spends most of his time.

LITERATURE SURVEY:

There have been several studies looking at the effects of parental work hours on children’s cognitive and behavioral outcomes. The most significant in my research are Ruhm (2002), Harvey (1999), and Blau (1999).

Ruhm offers the most complete and up to date study. Many previous studies have each included a few control variables. Some were consistent across most studies and some were unique to one study in particular. Ruhm uses most of the control variables that were previously found to have any effect and, in addition, includes some of his own, offering a more controlled look at the direct effects of employment.

Harvey offers a comprehensive look at several previous studies in addition to doing her own empirical work. One of the strengths of this paper is its look at the shortcomings and discrepancies of previous studies and its attempt to correct or control for them. She uses several of her own models to make conclusive determinations where there have previously been inconsistencies. One of the shortcomings of both this model and the Ruhm model is that they both use the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth which includes a particularly young and largely disadvantaged group of mothers. The sample, therefore, is not nationally representative. In addition, neither makes an attempt to control for the effects of different types of nonparental daycare.

Blau offers one of the only studies that looks at the effects of different types of daycare. He examines the difference in outcomes among children in parental, nonparental, home, and center care. He, however, also uses the NLSY as his data sample and points out that the samples collection methods may have been flawed, and that these flaws may ultimately alter his results.

RESEARCH DESIGN:

This research will attempt to apply ideas about labor force participation and demand for childcare to explain parental decisions about whether or not to work after they have children, and the effect that those decisions have on behavioral outcomes of the children. In order to adequately conduct this research I will need time series data on parental work hours over the course of each child’s life, cross section data on types of daycare, and children’s behavioral development. In addition, I will need data on a number of control variables such as the child’s age, the child’s race, the household income, the number of persons in the household, and parent’s marital status.

I have found all the data I need to conduct this experiment in the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) and the accompanying Child Development Survey (CDS, 1997). With the data available in these datasets I will be able to run regressions which will examine the behavior of children between the ages of 3 and 12 in 1997, the control variables for each child in the same year, and the parental work status during all years of each child’s life.

REFERENCES:

Barling, Julien & MacEwen, Karyl E. 1988. A Multitrait-Multimethod Analysis of Four Maternal Employment Role Experiences. Journal of Organizational Behavior 9 (October): 335-344.

Blau, David M. 1999. The Effect of Child Care Characteristics on Child Development. The Journal of Human Resources 34 (Autumn): 786-822.

Folbre, Nancy & Nelson, Julie A. 2000. For Love or Money-or Both? Journal of Economic Perspectives 14 (Fall): 123-139.

Harvey, Elizabeth. 1999. Short-term and Long-term Effects of Early Parental Employment on Children of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. Developmental Psychology 35, no.2: 445-459.

Havemen, Robert & Barbara Wolfe. 1995. The Determinants of Children’s Attainments: A Review of Methods and Findings. Journal of Economic Literature 33 (December): 1829.

Parcel, Tony L. & Menaghan, Elizabeth G. 1994. Parent’s Jobs and Children’s Lives. New York: Aldine De Gruyter.

Ruhm, Christopher J. “Parental Employment and Child Cognitive Development”

Wen-Jai Han, Jane Waldfogel, and Jeanne Brooks-Gunn. 2001. The Effects of Early Maternal Employment on Later Cognitive and Behavioral Outcomes. Journal of Marriage and the Family 63 (May): page#.