Maternal work hours and Australian childrens mental health and - PDF document

Maternal work hours and Australian children’s mental health and behaviour: exploring differences by maternal education Meg Kingsley and Ann Evans, School of Demography, Australian National University Abstract Evidence suggests parents’ work is a social determinant of children’s socio-emotional development. While this influence can be positive, recent trends in the Australian labour market, such as the destandardisation of work hours, are incompatible with strategies to reconcile work and family. Evidence suggests both long and short work hours may affect children’s wellbeing; however previous research is inconsistent and may indicate the relationship depends on family characteristics. This study examines the relationship between mothers’ work hours and children’s mental health and behaviour over ages 4 -15, and examines the moderating effect of maternal education. It uses Waves 1-6 of data from the Kindergarten cohort in the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children and employs mixed-effects multi-level growth curve modelling. The results indicate that younger children of mothers working between two and three days per week have lower levels of socio-emotional and behavioural problems, however by adolescence, children of mothers working full time have lower levels of problems. However, the relationship between mothers’ work hours and children’s socio - emotional difficulties differs depending on the educational attainment of the mother, suggesting family background may moderate the links. The findings imply longer term impacts of changes in education and the deregulation of the Australian labour market. Notes This research is supported by an Australian Government Research Training Program (RTP) Scholarship. This paper uses unit record data from Growing Up in Australia, the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children. The study is conducted in partnership between the Department of Social Services (DSS), the Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS) and the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). The findings and views reported in this paper are those of the author and should not be attributed to DSS, AIFS or the ABS. 1

Introduction Understanding the factors that influence childhood mental health and behaviour is important as it impacts adult health and wellbeing, as well as the wellbeing of children. Emotional and behavioural problems in childhood are related to psychopathology in adulthood (Repetti 2002) and non-cognitive traits have been shown to influence both social and economic success later in life (Heckman et al. 2006). Research suggests children’s emotional and behavioural development is sensitive to family stress (Khanam & Nghiem 2016), and a factor that may influence family stress and children’s mental health and behaviour, is parental work conditions. For parents, family and work are interconnected domains, and parental work can shape family processes and child wellbeing. Increasing the workforce participation of mothers of young children is a current aim of both welfare and gender equality policies in Australia, and parental employment can have a positive influence on children’s development. However, the policy and cultural context of Austr alia’s work -care regime has been shaped by the male breadwinner/female caregiver dichotomy (Mahon et al. 2016) and viewing care and work family reconciliation as individual choices (Pocock et al. 2013; The Work + Family Policy Roundtable 2016). As a result , Australia’s family policy environment encourages female employment and parenthood to be reconciled using a mix of part-time work, periods out of the workforce with re-entry in a different job, and private sector childcare (Rendall et al. 2013), resulting in inequalities in the labour market and the experience of the work-family interface. At the same time that some Australians are working long hours, the prevalence of part-time work and underemployment is increasing (Australian Bureau of Statistics 2016a). Destandardisation and individualisation of work hours has been accompanied by growing insecurity regarding paid work, unsocial work hours and casualisation for some workers (Beck 2000; Germov 2011). As noted by the OECD (2012), this instability in the labour market is at odds with long-term strategies to reconcile work and family, and might be detrimental to children’s wellbeing. Evidence suggests that short or long work hours are associated with difficulties managing work and family life and may be detrimental to the health and wellbeing of both parents and children. H owever, previous research on the relationship between parents’ work hours and children’s mental health and behaviour is inconsistent. Emerging theories suggest that these inconsistencies highlight the role that family context has in the relationship between work and family. Li et al (2012) suggest that the link between parental work conditions and children’s wellbeing depends on a number of contextual factors that influence familial resour ces; however it is not currently well understood how the impact of parental work arrangements on children varies between different families. Socio-demographic characteristics, such as parental educational attainment, are associated with different employment conditions, so some parents may be more likely to experience difficulties managing the work-family interface. In addition, the advantages and disadvantages of job characteristics are not evenly distributed across groups (Presser & Ward 2011). This paper extends previous Australian research by using longitudinal data to explore the moderating effect of maternal education levels on the relationship between mothers’ work hours and children’s socio -emotional wellbeing. 2

Theoretical Orientation This study builds on previous research on the relationship between parents’ work hours and children’s wellbeing that has been guided by Bronfenbrenner’s theory of child development (Bronfenbrenner & Crouter 1982; Bronfenbrenner & Morris 2006; Parke 2004). This theory positions parents’ work as an important part of the exosystem in which children grow and develop because it can influence family resources, processes, time, and emotional exchanges (Li et al. 2012). Theories emerging from the USA (Williams 2013, Williams & Boushey 2010) suggest that socio-demographic groups in society may experience difficulties managing the work-family interface differently, and the effect of working hours on parents and children may be context-dependent. Williams argues the risk that long work hours will trigger work-family problems depends on the background characteristics of workers. Longer working hours are concentrated amongst people of higher socio-economic position (McGinnity & Calvert 2009, OECD 2012, Strazdins et al 2011) and Williams writes that for higher educated people, working long hours create work-family problems. Longer working hours of mothers may influence poor outcomes because they contribute to role strain. According to role strain theory, people fulfil different roles in their lives, such as parent and employee, but strain occurs when the duties, expectations, norms and behaviours associated with the different roles conflict. This theory asserts demands and resources associated with participation in the work or family domain directly affect role quality and performance in the other domain (Voydanoff 2005). Role strain associated with spending long hours in the workplace may result in psychological overload and lower levels of happiness for parents (Aryee 1992; Cooklin et al. 2016; Frone et al. 1992; Greenhaus & Beutell 1985; Higgins and Duxbury 1992; Lautsch & Scully 2007), which then impacts on children’s socio-emotional wellbeing. Lautsch and Scully (2007) argue while reducing work hours is posited as a solution to work-family balance issues in middle-class families (e.g. OECD 2012), shorter working hours can create stress in disadvantaged families because income is not high enough to provide for children. Williams (Williams et al 2013; Williams & Boushey 2010) suggests that for lower educated workers, around-the-clock availability for work and schedule inflexibility create tension. In addition, underemployment may be a source of difficulty for lower skilled workers. Shorter work hours may be related to childr en’s development through the relationship between underemployment, income and family stress. Family stress theory argues that income affects parenting because financial hardship affects’ psychological wellbeing, which shapes their parenting style and their child’s development (Smith & Brooks-Gunn 1997; Yamauchi 2010; Yeung et al. 2002). Recent research suggests that family stress theory is relevant to children’s socio -emotional and behavioural outcomes (Khanam & Nghiem 2016). However, part-time work may als o be related to children’s wellbeing through the psychological distress associated with poorer quality work, or an elevated burden of responsibility for child care and housework, leading to role strain as described above. 3