« Working Moms: Are We Merely Giving Our Kids Crumbs? »
Sunday, July 24, 2011 at 9:16AM | Jessica Smith 
In a recent report from University College London in the United Kingdom led by researcher Dr. Anne McMunn, it was discovered that being a working mom is not "detrimental" to our children's wellbeing.
However, there are some experts like Dr. Fran Walfish who make it clear they whole-heartedly disagree. In a conversation with FlexJobs, Dr. Walfish begs the question of whether working moms are conditioning their children to simply seek out the "crumbs" in future relationships in adulthood versus the a whole "slice of pie" they deserve.
What they do agree on? Flexible work arrangements for both parents are a great way to manage time dedicated to work and raising a family.
In our family, as of a month ago, both my husband and I now have flexible work arrangements because my husband's team at work now operate within a compressed work week. Each member of his team works four days a week with longer days while rotating the days one gets off every week. My schedule is flexible is well because I telecommute. I am on the computer before 8:00am most weekdays and work until late afternoon when I pick up my son from camp, then it's back to work after dinner time.
Would this work for every family? Maybe not. Does every family have the ability to arrange a flexible work schedule with their employers? No. But I think we're moving in that direction. Just because parents work doesn't mean our children are getting crumbs...it just means we work a little bit harder and smarter to make those slices of pie focused and present.
Here's more about the report's findings from The Telegraph
The latest report, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, suggested that parents who are struggling to combine paid work with family life need not fear that they are undermining their children’s emotional wellbeing.
Dr Anne McMunn, the lead researcher in the study, said mothers who worked full time were least likely to have children with emotional or behavioural problems, such as hyperactivity, aggression, tantrums or becoming worried or “clingy”.
“Some studies have suggested that whether or not mothers work in the first year of a child's life can be particularly important for later outcomes,” Dr McMunn said.
“In this study we did not see any evidence for a longer-term detrimental influence on child behaviour of mothers working during the child's first year of life.
“Children whose mothers were not working at all had the most behaviour difficulties, followed by children whose mothers were in part-time work,” she said.
The academics analysed results from the Millennium Cohort Study, which tracks the development of almost 19,000 children born in 2000 and 2001, to find the links between parents’ working patterns and children’s social wellbeing.
What about you? How do you divide up your pie slices of work and life?
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