Will your Job Affect your Baby’s Upbringing?

By Mrunal - Updated: October 31, 2018

In this Article

A Look at Working Mothers’ Impact on Children
What’s the Verdict?

Are working moms bad for children? The topic has always been debatable and a big source of guilt to working moms. There’ve been numerous researches conducted to observe the effects of working mothers on children. Few studies have suggested that working moms risk damaging their children’s prospects on the school and job fronts. On the other hand, other studies shrug off such claims and say that kids of working mothers grow up fine. So what do you do?

A Look at Working Mothers’ Impact on Children

According to research that favour working moms, sons of working mothers are more likely to spend quality time with their families and help with house work. But, could this have anything to do with seeing their mothers working hard to provide and care for the family? Daughters of working mothers, meanwhile, are found to be more likely to have better earnings than daughters of stay-at-home moms. Perhaps, because they learn the importance of having jobs and aiming high.

On the other hand, other research claims that moms who get back to work while their kids are young risk spoiling their kids’ prospects with education and work. It says that it’s akin to growing up in a single-parent household and even if the father’s a stay-at-home dad, it doesn’t do much for the children’s educational performance.

What’s the Verdict?

The fact is that there’s no real way to say if working moms are bad for their kids. If you can strike a balance between spending time with your children and having a career, there’s nothing like it. And if your husband wants to be more involved in the children’s lives by staying home more, let him. As long as you and your husband can provide for the family and are there for the kids, there’s no reason why you’d have a negative impact on kids’ lives.

In fact, many children of working moms appreciate the fact that their mothers do such a great job of balancing work and home. It’s not easy and they know it. Of course, this doesn’t mean that stay-at-home moms have to start finding jobs, but it just goes to show that it’s not only whether a mom works or not that matters, but the quality of life that children have that does. Income’s an important factor that determines just how satisfied children are. Moms who work long hours with low incomes are likelier to be exhausted, stressed and unhappy. Naturally! Worrying about how to make ends meet is enough to drive anyone to anxiety. Children can pick up on the negativity and, of course, can be left lacking certain things that children of higher income families have.

The bottom line is that if you want to work, do it. Just make sure that you’re there for your children as well. You also want to choose the right time to start working. Young kids need their moms so you might want to begin work after the first few years of your children’s lives. As for dad, he should spend as much time with the kids too. All too often, the onus lies on moms to be the emotional rock but fathers too need to be given the chance.

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