Children of mothers who returned to work did not seem to have suffered any consequences
In their attempts to do it all, or at least come close, new mothers have a lot to worry about. While trying to bond with their babies, they face the challenge of remaining linked to the workforce. But some might be anxious that returning to work could harm their babies.
It's an issue that has long been debated - does a mother's return to work in the first year of her baby's life have any adverse consequences? There has been some concern about what impact, if any, mothers' return to work is having on their babies' cognitive development and social and emotional welfare.
Previous research has produced mixed results. Some studies suggest returning to work within a few months of giving birth can be harmful because it deprives babies of time to bond with their mothers. But others say there is no effect whatsoever, or the effects may even be positive. If a mother returns to work and there are two incomes flowing into a household, then the child reaps the economic benefits.
Australian research that emerged from the Growing Up in Australia conference in Melbourne yesterday might put some of the worries of mothers to rest.
Wilawan Kanjanapan, from the federal Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, says there does not seem to be any significant negative impact on young children whose mothers return to work in the first year of their children's lives.
Kanjanapan told the conference that the employment of mothers with young children was lower in Australia than in many OECD countries. Just under half - about 48 per cent - of Australian mothers whose youngest child is aged between three and five are in the workforce. This is well below the OECD average of about two-thirds of mothers.
Kanjanapan used data from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children to examine the employment patterns of about 4500 mothers and determine how their children were doing at the age of two and three.
Of those women, 38 per cent had not returned to work by the time their child was three, 29 per cent were working part-time, 23 per cent had not worked in the first year but had done some work in the second or third year of their child's life, and 10 per cent had returned to work full-time before their child was a year old.
Kanjanapan said the children of mothers who returned to work did not seem to have suffered any consequences. But it is not known what their mothers did to get the balance right. Nor does her study examine the impact of mothers working extra-long hours.
Other research presented yesterday examines the so-called work-life tension encountered by mothers who try to fit everything in. One main finding of the research - by Ben Graham and Ibolya Losoncz from the federal Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs - comes as no surprise - that it is the more highly educated mothers who are more likely to experience that ''spillover'' from work to life. And while they might love their job, they are much more stressed. But does that stress have an effect on their children?
Their analysis of more than 1300 children found that those whose mothers had a high level of work-life tension had poorer social and emotional outcomes than children whose mothers had a better balance.
But it isn't necessarily that simple, the researchers conclude. They say that ''hostile'' parenting may have a greater impact on children. And whether a mother's parenting is ''hostile'' can be influenced by work-life tension.
''Working mothers who do not experience high spillover are better able to cope with the challenges of parenting,'' they say.
Other factors that can be at play here are the mother's personality, or other circumstances in her life that influence her parenting style.
For policymakers, there are many things to think about. The bigger picture must include fathers, who might want to share more of the load at home but can't because their workplaces are not father-friendly enough to allow it. Fathers are sometimes perhaps unfairly blamed for not helping out enough at home, but they often get a raw deal.
''Working mothers are balancing the demands of paid work with unpaid domestic work and caring, placing them at risk of tension between work and life,'' Graham and Losoncz say.
''Effective policy needs to encourage men to play a greater role by increasing their access to flexible work practices, and increasing their use of these provisions where they are already available.''
The researchers say that not only will that ease the work-life tension for mothers, the benefits will also be felt by their children.
''Manageable hours of paid and unpaid work and greater partner support, as well as improving outcomes for working mothers, may also have a small protective influence on children.''
Carol Nader is social policy editor for The Age.
