MATERNAL EMPLOYMENT, MORALE AND PARENTING STYLE - SOCIAL-CLASS COMPARISONS

The relationships linking mothers' employment, emotional well-being, a nd parenting style were examined, with attention to social-class diffe rences in a sample of 365 mothers of third- and fourth-grade children in an industrialized Midwestern city. In the working class, full-time homemakers obtained higher depressive mood scores than employed mother s, and depressive mood mediated their higher scores on permissive pare nting and partially mediated their higher scores on authoritarian pare nting. The employment/depression relationship was not moderated by mar ital status, fathers' help, number of children, or presence of a presc hooler. It was mediated by locus of control but not by financial conce rns or loneliness. In the middle class, employment was not related to mood, authoritative or permissive parenting, but homemakers indicated more authoritarian parenting orientations. The middle-class employment /depression relationship was moderated by number and age of children: fewer children and no preschooler were associated with higher depressi on for homemakers and lower depression for employed mothers. The effec t of depressed mood on parenting orientations was moderated by educati on and parental commitment, but only in the middle class.