Understanding Trends in Mothers' Work Schedules: Implications for Child Health and Development

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PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Given significant, structural changes in the labor market, mothers' employment experiences differ markedly today than in previous decades. As mothers dramatically increased their labor force participation over the past 50 years, the growth of the service sector and rise of the “24/7 economy” led to an increase in jobs with nonstandard schedules outside of the traditional Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm work week. The current high prevalence of maternal nonstandard work schedules raises concerns about the potential adverse effects on children's health and development. Yet, prior research on mothers' work schedules and child outcomes is outdated, relying predominantly on samples of families from the 1980s to early 2000s. Increases in precarious jobs and public investments in child care and early education since then suggest that the effects of mothers' work schedules on mothers' time with children and child care arrangements, and ultimately on child well-being, have also changed. The proposed research aims to further knowledge on how maternal employment has changed in recent decades and its implications for children and families by: (1) documenting and explaining trends in mothers' work hours and schedules over the past 30 years; (2) assessing how the associations between mothers' work schedules, mothers' time with children, and child care arrangements have changed over time and as a result of increased public spending on child care and early education programs; and (3) examining how mothers' work schedules are associated with children's health and development outcomes in a contemporary, nationally-representative sample of U.S. households, as well as testing multiple, key mediators of these associations. The project will generate novel findings on how mothers' employment matters for child health and development that are necessary for making informed policy decisions about how to best intervene and support children and families to improve health and well-being over the life course. This K01 award would provide Dr. Alejandra Ros Pilarz with the training required to become an independent researcher and leading expert in how parental employment matters for child health and development. The extensive research infrastructure and support for early career investigators, rich, intellectual environment at the Center for Demography and Ecology and Institute for Research on Poverty, and a committed mentoring team of experts in their respective fields make the University of Wisconsin-Madison an ideal environment to complete the proposed research and training activities. The proposed training plan would allow Dr. Pilarz to receive instruction and mentorship toward meeting the following career goals: (1) increasing substantive knowledge in demography and demographic methods; (2) increasing substantive knowledge of family processes, child health, and middle childhood development; and (3) gaining proficiency in advanced quantitative methods. The K01 award will lead to an R01 proposal that builds on Dr. Pilarz's newly-acquired substantive knowledge and methodological skills and will help launch Dr. Pilarz's career as an independent researcher.