This study assessed the links between early maternal employment and children's later academic and behavioral skills in Australia and the United Kingdom. Using representative samples of children born in each country from 2000 to 2004 (Australia N = 5,093, U.K. N = 18,497), OLS regression models weighted with propensity scores assessed links between…

While the benefits of early childhood education and care (ECEC) services to better learning are now widely acknowledged, a widespread and accessible provision for these services also helps support gender equality in the workforce. In particular, the availability, intensity, reliability and affordability of ECEC play an important role in engaging…

Background: Families of children with disabilities experience extra financial strains, and mothers are frequently unable to participate in paid work because of caregiving obligations. Methods: A mailed survey and follow-up phone calls were used to gather data about mother's health, workforce participation and barriers to inclusion in the workplace…

Labour force participation maybe particularly problematic for single-mothers. By working, mothers increase their family's financial capital and consequently make more money available for educational resources. However, employment often results in the parent having less time to interact with their child and participate in school activities. This is…

The article focuses on findings that were replicated across several countries and considers their relevance for future older adults. Key findings are that (a) childlessness makes more of a difference in men's than in women's lives, (b) never-married women are a childless category with particularly favorable characteristics, and (c) childless…

An Australian survey examined the child care and working arrangements (part time, shift work, overtime) of 2,890 mothers. Differences in use of formal child care or unmet child care needs depended on children's ages and full-time/overtime status. Those working in nontraditional arrangements may be more likely to use informal child care. (SK)

Examination of Australian indices of full- and part-time employment indicates that occupational segregation of women without children, on average younger than women with children, is significantly and persistently higher than for other women. There is slightly less segregation in part-time than in full-time employment, especially for women without…

This document is an English-language abstract (approximately 1,500 words) in which Australian child care facilities are surveyed to include those providing full-day care and therefore excludes kindergartens, play centers, nursery schools, and child minding centers that provide care for only part of the day. The document presents a breakdown of…

This paper examines three periods in the history of child care: nineteenth-century creches, World War II day nurseries, and the 1970s Community Child Care movement. It argues that, in each of these periods, the services were shaped by three sets of competing interests: those of the mothers who needed or wanted to work; their children; and the…

A study was made of how Australian mothers feel about having their children in day care, with particular emphasis on mothers' feelings about separation from their children. A total of 10 mothers and 1 father participated in the pilot study. All but 1 parent had a child in day care at least 3 days per week. The children, who were between 4 and 22…

Describes derivation and use of an index representing mothers' attachment to workforce, based on proportion of time the mother worked since her first child was born. Examines relationships with the mother's work status and with demographic characteristics. More education and smaller family distinguished between women's high versus low work…

Married women in the labor market are victimized all over the world, mainly because women's work-life cycle differs radically from that of men. During a review of recent research data and a fifteen-month study tour in nine communist and non-communist countries, it was found that working mothers continue to carry a double burden of home and child…

This study examined the relationship between varying patterns of maternal employment, the use of child care, and the infant's establishment of a reciprocal, responsive relationship with the mother. Parental and non-parental caregivers were located within a family system to examine attachment theory within an ecological framework. The subjects were…

This paper examines the relationship between Australian women's participation in paid work in the public market and the child-rearing component of their unpaid, non-market work, and the role of public policy in regulating the relationship. The study presents a historical overview of the period between 1939 and 1950. Critical concepts and the ideas…

This paper comments on and suggests alternatives to assumptions concerning child-rearing currently held by many Australians. That family-child relationships change as societies and economies change is a fact not commonly taken for granted, but is a conclusion reached by scholars examining the history of childhood. Recently in Australia, as…