Sociology

For years, mothers have been made to feel guilty with regards to having a career or going back to work. This guilt is based on the fact that working mothers are unable to provide proper maternal care for their children. The field of psychology has mostly focused on the negative effects of this lack of mothering, which forces mothers to try and become super women, full-time mothers, and career women at best. This paper attempts to negate this misconception.

The Modern Woman
Modern times have made changes in many of our lives and that includes the role of the mother.   Nowadays, mothers are either career mothers who help earn income or are the sole income earners for the family, or are stay-at-home mothers who focus on taking care of the family.  When it comes to the belief whether a mother should or should not work People often have divided opinions.  Unfortunately, most of these opinions negate the fact that it is acceptable for mothers to have careers outside the home. This is despite the fact that the recent surveys in 2009 show approximately 13.5 of the executive officer positions and 15.2 of corporate board seats in Fortune 500 companies is being held by women.

Oftentimes, people disapprove that mothers do go to work outside the home even if their child still needs to be taken care of.  The sad truth here is that with the high statistics of single mothers some are actually forced to take up work outside the home just to make ends meet.  Of course, there are those who do have the financial capability of staying at home until the kids are old enough to go to school but still opt to go to work because they grew up that way  that it is acceptable to have a career even if you have kids that need your attention. 

These factors beg the question of whether or not a mother should feel guilty because they are working instead of taking care of the kids at home.  As such, this paper attempts to present both the negative and positive views about maternal employment by presenting the different studies that have been conducted over several years, with the objective of clarifying that it is quite acceptable to have a career yet still have children.

In a paper presented by Gold  Andres (1978), a study was conducted to examine the relations between the status of maternal employment and the adjustment, cognitive development, and sex role concepts among 110 nursery school children.  It was predicted that maternal employment would be associated with differential cognitive development and a broadening of the childs concept of sex roles depending on whether the child was a female or a male.  There was proof that employed mothers had children with a broader concept of the sex role.  The childs insight with regards to their mothers was not related to their status of employment. On the other hand, sons negatively perceived their fathers more if the mother was employed.  Comparative IQ tests showed that the sons with working mothers had lower IQ scores compared with either a child with stay-at-home mothers or daughters with employed mothers.  Better ratings for adjustment were obtained from teachers by children with working mothers.

According to Dunlop (1981)
Many forces (demographic, economic, and social) have precipitated and accompanied the entry of women into paid employment. It is especially important for the womens mental health that the different forces be understood and acknowledged, for the family and personal stress experienced by many women is significantly influenced by a number of broader social factors. It is particularly important for good mental health of the employed mothers that certain special stresses, such as growing out of the effort to be simultaneously a successful person, employee, and parent, be understood and acknowledged. Being able to find a good day care for children, understanding and monitoring the effects of substitute care on children, and trying to work out new arrangements for the sharing of child-rearing and work responsibilities within the family will sometimes probably present unique threats to the well-being of every working mother.

A study was conducted on how mothers preference to be or not to be employed had an effect on maternal separation anxiety development in well-educated, older mothers (DeMeis, Hock,  McBride, 1986).  This study used 62 women with the following criteria  white, having their first child, and has at least a 2-year degree.  The women were approached 42 hours after delivery and asked to participate in a longitudinal study from when their child was 2 days to 13-12 months.  The women participated by filling out questionnaires regarding the preference for going back to work or staying home with the child and their reasons for doing so. These preferences were then used to compare how each group felt about the balance of mothers roles and career investment, and how one affected the other.  The results showed that both working and non-working mothers had strong maternal anxiety during the first two questioning periods, while the working mothers anxiety decreased during the last period of questioning (DeMeis, Hock,  McBride, 1986).

The reasons for social policy change and reform to accommodate the changed role of women who are maternally employed is described by Silverstein (1991).  Statistical data were used to describe the number of women who are employed, married, and have children. He describes the United States status as a developed nation with some of the worse parental benefits. Silverstein (1991) also goes on to illustrate how even though women have also entered the work force they are still the primary caregivers and household managers. Furthermore, employment is still centered on males working with inflexible roles as a primary caregiver and with regards to household management issues, since these were traditionally the responsibility of the stay-at-home mother.  Silverstein (1991) felt that the lack of research on how to improve public policy to reflect modern times of motherhood echo sexist beliefs that women simply belong in the home. Therefore, most research is on how the maternal employment has negative effects on the children.  For his part, Silverstein (1991) wants to change societys outlook on the family, to make them understand that the father is just as important as the mother and that quality and affordable child care is important for both the parents and the childs development.

According to Bianchi (2000)
Despite the rapid rise in mothers labor force participation, mothers time with children has tended to be quite stable over time.  In the past, non-employed mothers time with children was reduced by the demands of unpaid family work and domestic chores and by the use of mother substitutes for childcare, especially in large families.  Today employed mothers seek ways to maximize time with children.  They remain quite likely to work part-time or to exit from the labor force for some years when their children are young they also differ from non-employed mothers in other uses of time (housework, volunteer work, leisure, etc.).  In addition, changes in childrens lives (e.g., smaller families, the increase in preschool enrollment, and the extended years of financial dependence on parents as more attend college) are altering the time and money investments that children require from parents.  Within marriage, fathers are spending more time with their children today than in the past, perhaps increasing the total time children spend with parents even as mothers work more hours away from home.

Han, Waldfogel,  Brooks-Gunn (2002) made an empirical study that examines the effect of dose maternal employment on the childs cognitive development.  The study selected children based on the mothers age at childs birth, her educational level, marital status, child gender, and provided tests every 3 months to test the childs cognitive development.  They also took into consideration of the relevant facts such as when the mother went back to work, the existing family dynamics, home environment, and quality of child care.  The results showed that there were some negative effects for mothers who went back to work during the first year and those who worked for more than 30 hours a week.

Baum (2004) claims
More children today are being raised in households with motherswho work for pay compared to a generation ago, when most mothersdid not engage in marketplace work.  This demographic changeis important because it could affect children.  The effects of early and recent maternal employment on a childsacademic development were identified as measured by high schoolgrades.  The results suggest that whereas early maternal employmentdoes not have an effect, recent maternal employment (duringa childs adolescent years) significantly decreases grades.  The results also show that the effects of maternal employment donot differ for boys and girls.

Halpern (2005) addressed issues with regards to the changes in family dynamics due to the workforce over the years, i.e. there are dual employed or single parent women. She also addressed the psychological question concerning the effects of maternal employment on children by explaining how psychology faults the mother for any behavioral problems that the children may have.  However, she does point out that there is a large majority of working mothers and that not all of them have behavior issues therefore children can develop equally well regardless of the employment status of their parents (p. 399).  She further goes on to explain that there are many children in single family homes, which force the single mothers to have no other choice but to go to work.  In an intact family, the father is as equally as important as the mother, but it has somehow been overlooked by psychology (p. 400).  Halpern (2005) discussed the need for quality and affordable child care, and for school and work schedules to be aligned.
 
In a news release by the University of Texas (2005), a study was conducted among 1,053 mothers living in 10 U.S. locations, including Seattle, Philadelphia, and Lawrence, Kansas. The studys director, Dr. Aletha Huston, which is also the Priscilla Pond Flawn Regents Professor in Child Development at the University of Texas oversaw mother and infant evaluations in Lawrence. 

According to Dr. Huston
The amount of time spent by the mother is not as important as what the mother brings to the relationship. The study showed that for both employed and full-time, stay-at-home mothers, a number of characteristics were more common among those who spent more non-work time with their children. Mothers who spent more of their non-work time with their babies also displayed more maternal sensitivity in videotaped interactions with their children, and provided more enriched home environments. However, infants bonded equally well with mothers who spent a lot of time and those who spent relatively little time with them. There were also no differences regarding childrens cognitive ability, social behavior, and language development for children whose mothers spent different amounts of time with them. 

According to Dr. Huston, there is more than one way in which children, including those with working mothers, can be raised well. She also noted that other adults including grandparents, fathers, and even the occasional child care provider, play significant roles in the childs development.

Guendonzi (2006) questioned whether women schedule their work around family responsibilities because they want to or because they have fallen prey to the social pressure of conforming to tradition view of what motherhood is (p. 901).  She gives an overview of what society thinks about motherhood, how it should be the mothers first priority to look after and take care of her children and home, and how non-maternal care has negative effects on the children.  Through recorded interview, researchers asked women about balancing individual and family needs, meeting individual needs, and relational conflicts.

Based on the several abovementioned studies, we clearly see that mothers who do eventually go back to their careers can have a positive effect on the development of the child.  Hundreds of studies could still be done and we would still see the same indefinite conclusion over and over again.
Looking at it from a broader perspective there is more than one factor that does account for why a mother needs to work outside the home. 

First and foremost  the income needed to sustain the needs of the child.  Realistically, not all married women have husbands whose work can cover the financial needs of the entire family and not all mothers are married.  There are those who have working husbands but still need to find or go to work themselves not because they want to rather because they need to. 

Todays lifestyle has shaped mankind in such a way that what we used to take for granted and what we considered as mere luxury has now become a necessity although realistically we can still do without them.  We have succumbed to the luxury of modernization that anything else seems to pale in comparison.

Single mothers (either divorced or unmarried) on the other hand have no choice but to work so that they can provide for the child or children as the case may be.  In some cases, they are quite reluctant in leaving the child in lieu of work but unless they have inherited a huge amount of cash, there really is no other way or choice for them except to find a caregiver and go off to work themselves.  Practical and realistic as this may sound, single mothers are more concerned and feel more guilty that they should be leaving the child for a days work.

Secondly  there are benefits that one can achieve by working outside the home.  One of these is healthcare.  There are instances where the healthcare offered by the employer to the mother also extends to the children, which by todays standards is really significant. 

Not every employer is an ogre when it comes to hiring mothers. In fact, there are companies that try and help lessen the mothers load and worries by putting up daycare centers near or within the office itself for free.  This allows the mother to bring the child with her when she goes off to work and also be able to look into what the child is doing whenever she gets the chance. These types of employers even provide more benefits for mothers than for non-mothers taking into consideration the burden of being a mother.  On the other hand, it is also worth mentioning that there are companies that do not provide these forms of benefits to their employees who are mothers because they want to practice equality in the workplace, although sadly they do consider first and foremost the men for a possible job promotion.

Last but not the least  personal space or some alone time far away from the children.  This might seem too trivial for others but for mothers, especially those with more than one child, this seems to help keep their sanity because they can get a respite from all the chaos that goes around in the home when children are involved.  Dont get me wrong, mothers do want to be around their kids but there is also a need for them to collect and be themselves so they dont get frazzled in the child-caring process.  For some this can only be achieved by going to work for a certain period of time then going back home to resume their role as a mother and take care of her child or children for the rest of the day.  As some psychologists would say, Self-gratification is needed every once in a while to help keep ones sanity in check. 

Borrowing the words of Dr. Huston (University of Texas, 2005), The amount of time spent by the mother is not as important as what the mother brings to the relationship.  The mother might be working outside the home for a certain period of time but when she arrives from work and spends quality time with the child then there is no need to worry.  The mother has the mindset to focus only on the child and hisher needs and wants the entire time they are together, which is, for all intents and purposes, more important than being there the whole time but not really focusing on the child.  The time spent together becomes quality time because both the child and the mother feel that this is the right time to share stories, laugh, and play together.  Both believe that this time is precious and should not be wasted on less important matters.

Unfortunately, society only views the childs development as the sole responsibility of the mother despite the fact that there are other factors that help shape the childs development including that of the father, grandparents, child caregiver, and the childs peers. 

It has long been a tradition that women do take care of the home and the children while men go off to work to be able to provide for the needs of the family.  Modern-day women scoff at this idea and even attempt to change this age-old belief and tradition.  With respect, there are modern-day men who see the womens point of view and so they eagerly share the responsibility with their wife when it comes to providing for their family.  A stay-at-home father also exists, although not that widespread as women would want, in our modern-day society just as a stay-at-home mother exists since time immemorial.  These stay-at-home fathers also provide children with the same care and attention as would have a stay-at-home mother. 

Todays society might have opened its views with regards to the rights of women but they have yet to open their view with regards to the rights of the mother.  They have yet to learn that it is not the sole responsibility of the mother to take care of the child and to assure that heshe develops in the way that is viewed by the society as correct.  There has always been a bias when it comes to women and this becomes more evident by their disapproval at allowing women to work and leave the child in the care of another. 

Overall, it would take more than a generation to change the views about motherhood and working outside the home however, it does not take more than a generation to change the facts that mothers do have to seek employment and that mothers do have the ability to work outside the home while still being capable to nurture and care for the child without leaving any negative effects on the childs development.