Paid Employment, Life Events, Social Support, and Mental Health in Working-Class Mothers

Working-class mothers with dependent children are at relatively high risk for mental health problems. Although paid employment has not been found to influence the mental health of mothers in general, there is some evidence that working-class mothers do benefit. In a community survey of 193 working-class mothers, we tested for direct effects of employment and examined these effects in interaction with life event stress, social support, and the presence of a preschool child. Subject selection minimized confounding among these variables. No overall effect of paid employment or preschool children was found. Mothers who had suffered a severely stressful life event in the previous year had higher levels of psychiatric symptomatology. Employment reduced this risk when social support was available but, in the absence of social support, was associated with high symptom levels.