This study investigates the impact of employment status and work conditions on the quality of the home environment provided by single mothers of preschool-age children. Multivariate analyses were conducted using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. The results indicate that employment status is not a significant predictor of the quality of the home environment among single mothers of young children when family size and welfare use are controlled. Among single working mothers, several job conditions were related to the quality of the home environment. Single mothers who were employed part-time and in low-wage jobs had significantly poorer home environments. Single mothers who work nonstandard hours generally have poorer home environments, with the exception of rotating shifts. These findings highlight the importance of examining the effects of employment status and job conditions on within-group differences in the quality of the home environment among single-mother families.
Ali, J., & Avison, W.R. (1997). Employment transitions and psychological distress: The contrasting experiences of single and married mothers. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 38, 345-362.
2.
Amato, P. (1993). Children's adjustment to divorce: Theories, hypotheses, and empirical support. Journal of Marriage and the Family , 55, 23-28.
3.
Baharudin, R., & Luster, T. (1998). Factors related to the quality of the home environment and children's achievement. Journal of Family Issues, 19, 375-403.
4.
Belsky, J. (1984). The determinants of parenting: A process model . Child Development, 55, 83-96.
5.
Bradley, R.H. (1985). The HOME inventory: Rationale and research. In J. Lachenmeyer & M. Gibbs (Eds.), Recent research in developmental psychopathology: Book supplement to the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry (pp. 191-210). New York: Gardner.
6.
Bradley, R.H., Caldwell, B., & Rock, S. (1988). Home environment and school performance: A ten year follow up and examination of three models of environmental action. Child Development, 59, 852-867.
7.
Brooks-Gunn, J., Duncan, G.J., Klebanov, P.K., & Sealan, N. (1993). Do neighborhoods influence child and adolescent outcomes? American Journal of Sociology, 99, 353-395.
8.
Brooks-Gunn, J., Han, W.J., & Waldfogel, J. (2002). Maternal employment and child cognitive outcomes in the first three years of life: The NICHD Study of Early Child Care. Child Development, 73, 1052-1072.
9.
Caldwell, B.M., & Bradley, R.H. (1984). Administration manual: Home Observation for the Measurement of the Home Environment. Little Rock: University of Arkansas.
10.
Cooksey, E.C., Menaghan, E., & Jekielek, S.M. (1997). Life-course effects of work and family circumstances on children. Social Forces, 76, 637-665.
11.
Duncan, G., Brooks-Gunn, J., & Klebanov, P. (1994). Economic deprivation and early-childhood development . Child Development, 65, 296-318.
12.
Dunifon, R., Kalil, A., & Bajracharya, A. (2005). Maternal working conditions and child well-being in welfare-leaving families. Developmental Psychology, 41, 851-859.
13.
Elder, G.H., Jr., Conger, D., Foster, E.M., & Ardelt, M. (1992). Families under economic pressure. Journal of Family Issues, 13, 5-37.
14.
Farkas, G. (1996). Human capital or cultural capital? Ethnicity and poverty groups in an urban school district. New York: Aldine de Gruyter.
15.
Hill, J.L., Waldfogel, J., Brooks-Gunn, J., & Han, W.J. (2005). Maternal employment and child development: A fresh look using newer methods. Developmental Psychology, 41, 833-850.
16.
House, J.S., Umberson, D., & Landis, K.R. (1988). Structures and processes of social support. Annual Review of Sociology, 14, 293-318.
17.
Jackson, A.P., Brooks-Gunn, J., Huang, C.C., & Glassman, M. (2000). Single mothers in low-wage jobs: Financial strain, parenting, and preschoolers' outcomes. Child Development, 71, 1409-1423.
18.
Mariner, C.L., Zaslow, M.J., & Sugland, B. (1998). Factor structure and predictive validity of the HOME-Short Form for three racial/ethnic groups in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth-Child Supplement. Methods Working Paper No. 98.2.
19.
McLanahan, S., & Sandefur, G. (1994). Growing up with a single parent: What hurts, what helps. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
20.
Menaghan, E.G., Kowaleski-Jones, L., & Mott, F.L. (1997). The intergenerational costs of parental social stressors: Academic and social difficulties in early adolescence for children of young mothers. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 38, 72-86.
21.
Menaghan, E.G., & Parcel, T.L. (1991). Determining children's home environments: The impact of maternal characteristics and current occupational and family conditions . Journal of Marriage and the Family, 53, 417-431.
22.
Menaghan, E.G., & Parcel, T.L. (1995). Social sources of change in children's home environments: The effects of parental occupational experiences and family conditions. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 57, 69-84.
23.
Michael, R.T., Desai, S., & Chase-Landale, P.L. (1989). Mother or market? Effects of maternal employment on the intellectual ability of 4-year-old children . Demography, 26, 545-561.
24.
Miller, J., & Korenman, S. (1994). Poverty and children's nutritional status in the United States. American Journal of Epidemiology, 140, 233-243.
25.
Moore, K.A., & Driscoll, A.K. (1997). Low-wage maternal employment and outcomes for children: A study. Future of Children, 7, 122-127.
26.
Parcel, T.L., & Menaghan, E.G. (1990). Maternal working conditions and children's verbal facility: Studying the intergenerational transmission of inequality from mothers to young children. Social Psychology Quarterly, 53, 132-147.
27.
Parcel, T.L., & Menaghan, E.G. (1994). Early parental work, family social capital, and early childhood outcomes. American Journal of Sociology, 99, 972-1009.
28.
Parcel, T.L., Nickoll, R.A., & Dufur, M.J. (1996). The effects of parental work and maternal nonemployment on children's reading and math achievement. Work and Occupations , 23, 461-483.
29.
Presser, H. (1995). Job, family, and gender: Determinants of nonstandard work schedules among employed Americans in 1991. Demography , 32, 577-598.
30.
Presser, H. (2003). Working in a 24/7 economy: Challenges for American families. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
31.
Raver, C.C. (2003). Does work pay psychologically as well as economically? The role of employment in predicting depressive symptoms and parenting among low-income families. Child Development, 6, 1720-1736.
32.
Rogers, S.J., Parcel, T.L., & Menaghan, E.G. (1991). The effects of maternal working conditions and mastery on child behavior problems: Studying the intergenerational transmission of social control. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 32, 145-164.
33.
Ross, C., & Mirowsky, J. (1992). Households, employment, and the sense of control . Social Psychology Quarterly, 55, 217-235.
34.
Thomson, E., Hanson, T.L., & McLanahan, S. (1994). Family structure and child well-being: Economic resources verses parental behavior. Social Forces, 73, 221-242.
35.
U.S. Bureau of the Census. (1996). Income, poverty, and valuation of noncash benefits: 1994. In Current population reports (pp. 60-189).Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
36.
U.S. Department of Labor. (2000). Employment characteristics of families in 1999. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved March 24, 2006, from http://stats.bls.gov/newsrels.htm
37.
Whitbeck, L.B., Simons, R.L., Conger, R.D., Lorenz, F.O., Huck, S., & Elder, G.H., Jr. (1992). Family economic hardship, parental support, and adolescent self-esteem. Social Psychology Quarterly , 54, 53-363.
38.
Yeates, K.O., MacPhee, D., Campbell, F.A., & Ramey, C.T. (1983). Maternal IQ and home environment as determinants of early childhood intellectual competence: A developmental analysis. Developmental Psychology, 19, 731-739.
