MATERNAL EMPLOYMENT AND ADOLESCENTS ACADEMIC-ACHIEVEMENT - A DEVELOPMENTAL ANALYSIS

Among younger children, maternal employment is associated with diminis hed school achievement, specifically in White, middle-class boys from two-parent families. This study examined whether and under what condit ions maternal employment affects school achievement among high school students. It found that among 2,571 White adolescents living in two-pa rent families who provided information on parental employment patterns , school grades, an d family characteristics (1) upper middle-class an d middle-class boys reported lower grades when their mothers were work ing full time; (2) among upper middle-class boys, both mother's contem poraneous employment and employment during the preschool years were as sociated with lower grades; (3) upper middle-class and middle-class gi rls reported no effects of their mothers' contemporaneous employment, but did report lowe- high school grades when their mothers worked full time during the preschool period; and (4) for upper middle-class boys , their grades were lower when their mothers worked full time througho ut the boys' lives than when the mothers increased their work hours ov er time. The article presents important implications for conceptualizi ng and studying maternal employment.