Early Parental Work, Family Social Capital, and Early Childhood Outcomes

This article evaluates the impact of parental working conditions on both a cognitive child outcome and a social one among a national sample of three- to six-year-old children with employed mothers. Current maternal working conditions (i.e., a mother's working conditions at the time of the study) affect verbal facility, but paternal work hours in the early years have significant effects on children's behavior problems. Mother's current occupational complexity interacts with her resources and employment characteristics to influence both cognitive and social outcomes. The conclusion is that adequate parental resources contribute to the forms of family social capital useful in facilitating positive child outcomes, but that conclusions regarding negative effects of maternal work in the child's first year have been overgeneralized.