Stay-at-home-mums are unhappier than working mothers, says study
Filed under: Work
PA
Stay-at-home mothers are more likely to be depressed and suffer ill health than working mums, according to research.
Interviews with 1,364 mothers revealed that those who work – especially part-time – were happier than women who stayed home to look after their families.
Researchers analysed more than 10 years of interviews, starting in 1991, soon after the mothers had their kids.
"In all cases with significant differences in maternal well-being, such as conflict between work and family or parenting, the comparison favoured part-time work over full-time or not working," said lead author Cheryl Buehler, from the University of North Carolina, whose findings are published in the American Psychological Association's Journal of Family Psychology.
"However, in many cases the well-being of mums working part time was no different from mums working full time."
For example, mothers employed part time reported better overall health and fewer symptoms of depression than stay-at-home mums.
There were also no reported differences in general health or depressive symptoms between mums who worked part time and those who worked full time.
The study also found that mothers employed part-time were just as involved in their child's school as stay-at-home mums, and more involved than mums who worked full time.
In addition, mothers working part time appeared more sensitive with their pre-school children and they provided more learning opportunities for toddlers than stay-at-home mums and mums working full time.
"Since part-time work seems to contribute to the strength and well-being of families, it would be beneficial to employers if they provide fringe benefits, at least proportionally, to part-time employees as well as offer them career ladders through training and promotion," said Prof Marion Brian, co-author of the study.
Are you a working mum or stay-at-home mum? Have you done both? Did you find being at home full-time depressing or wonderful?
- ...saving me pennies on the phone bill<p> Just imagine how many calls I might have made by now if the phone was EVER where it should be on its cradle! The telepathy thing isn't coming on that brilliantly, though, if I'm honest. Daddy never seems to receive the message 'bring more wine'.</p>
- ...decorating the house<p> You’re right. We really were very unimaginative when we painted it in shades of off white, hoping to achieve stylish spaces that exuded light and airiness. That big smear of chocolate you made by wiping your cheek on the wall in the living room actually matches the cushions! And should I ever enter the house and forget where the kitchen is, the line you drew with non-washable felt-tip the entire length of the wall in the hall will show me the way.</p>
- ...boosting the local economy...<p> ...by, for example, providing work for the exterminators, who come to catch the mice, who come to eat the food that you somehow manage to deposit, in minute amounts, all over the house in places that should be impossible to get to.</p>
- ...the interesting beauty regimes<p> I do remember reading that avocado is excellent for one's skin – although I’m not sure about your particular method of mixing it with snot, and transferring it from your face to mine with that expert lunge/sweep manoeuvre. Especially when I already have my make-up on.</p>
- ...for helping me make new friends...<p> ...such as the woman who answers calls for the emergency services.</p>
- ...all the long weekends...<p> ...which are always extended by several hours, what with your fascinating ability to wake up at 5am every Saturday and Sunday (or sometimes, amazingly enough, even earlier if it’s one of those rare occasions that I went out the night before).</p>
- …filling the silences in the house...<p> ...with giggles, farts, excruciatingly high-pitched screams, the brain-numbing babble of battery toys and – rather brilliantly, even when you are sleeping soundly in your bed – a deafening roar when we turn on the stereo, which you have invariably switched on to maximum volume.</p>
- ...not to mention the silences everywhere else...<p> ...like in the library, for example, when we returned your story books and you were sad to see them go. I'm not sure, when the sweet librarian suggested you could take home a different Peppa Pig book, it was an entirely appropriate response to turn purple, scream bloody murder and repeatedly try to bite her. But still, she didn't call the police or anything.</p>
- ...making my heart swell...<p> ...not only with the love I have for you, but also with adrenaline – when I catch you on the third 'rung' of the bookshelf, because you have realised there's a valuable vase up at the top (possibly the only thing in the room you haven't yet licked).</p>
- ... teaching me the true value of money<p> I thought, what with frivolous purchases of Jimmy Choos and luxurious make-up having been replaced by cautious purchases of Start-Rites and Johnsons wipes, I had learned to appreciate it. But what really clinched it for me, I think, was looking up just as you posted that £20 note through the minuscule gap between the wall and the fireplace.</p>
- ...helping me garden<p> I understand that waiting for those tomatoes to turn red is just too much for you. Never mind. After months of tending those plants (which I grew from seed by the way, do you remember?), rather than plucking ripe juicy tomatoes for glorious summer salads, I will just look up recipes for green tomato chutneys which will take up space in the cupboard for all eternity – or until we move house.</p>
- ...being so honest<p> Like when you pointed at my thighs, laughing, and said: 'jelly!' it was a turning point for me. Really.</p>
- ...being right next to me when I woke up this morning<p> The fact that you prised open my sleepy eyelid, and then tried to lick my eyeball, is by the by. Even if not quite THAT close up, just like every other morning of my life, you were still the very first thing I wanted to see.</p>
