The Impact of Maternal Employment on Child’s Mental Health: Evidence from NLSY-Child

Sumanta Mukherjee, University of Kansas

An extensive literature has analyzed the effect of a mother’s employment on cognitive outcomes of her children. However, the role of maternal employment in a child’s noncognitive development has received comparatively scant attention. In this paper, data on a panel of children aged four through fifteen are analyzed to explore the effect of maternal employment on a child’s mental health outcomes. Using ordinary least squares and fixed effects estimates, we find that mothers who spend more time at home have children with fewer emotional problems: they score lower on the behavioral problems index; they are also less likely to be frequently unhappy or depressed. In addition, children with mothers spending more time at home are less likely to hurt someone, steal something, or skip school.