The harm caused to children when their mothers return to work in the first year of life is cancelled out by the benefits of being employed, a controversial new study has found.
Findings from US research which tracked more than 1,000 infants from birth to age seven reignited the fraught debate over the impact on young children whose mothers work long hours.
Researchers found that babies brought up by mothers who resumed full-time work before they turned one tended to do worse in ability tests – a disadvantage that persisted into primary school.
But those negative effects disappeared when the researchers took into account the benefits of having a job, such as higher earnings, it was claimed.
Working mothers were also more likely to use good quality childcare because they could shop around for the best providers, the study found.
And, controversially, they showed greater 'maternal sensitivity' – or responsiveness towards their children – than stay-at-home mothers.
These 'indirect' benefits aided children's development, balancing the downsides of full-time work, the researchers said.
The 'overall effect' of mothers working during their child's first year was 'neutral', according to researchers at Columbia University.
But the study also found that the positive effects of working depended on mothers finding high quality childcare and being skilled parents while not at work.
Brilliant use of social media this week by Old Spice
How do you take the social web by storm in a day, winning over even the coldest of hearts and gaining international acclaim – with commercials?
A team of creatives, tech geeks, marketers and writers gathered in an undisclosed location in Portland, Oregon yesterday and produced 87 short comedic YouTube videos about Old Spice. In real time. They leveraged Twitter, Facebook, Reddit and blogs. They dared to touch the wild beasts of 4chan and they lived to tell the tale. Even 4chan loved it. Everybody loved it; those videos and 74 more made so far today have now been viewed more than 4 million times and counting. The team worked for 11 hours yesterday to make 87 short videos, that's just over 7 minutes per video, not accounting for any breaks taken. Then they woke up this morning and they are still making more videos right now. Here's how it's going down.
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