Many working moms feel guilty.
Why ? Because they feel like they can't devote enough time to their children.
But this guilt turns out to be less and less justified.
Indeed, according to a study published by the Harvard Business School , researchers have found that the professional activity carried out by mothers can have several positive effects on their children.
Indeed, the study showed that women whose mother worked during their childhood are more likely to be employed, to have a management position and to earn more money than women whose mother did not not worked outside the home.
The same researchers also found that men whose mothers worked as children were more likely to help their families and help with household chores than men who were sons of stay-at-home mothers.
To reach these conclusions, the Harvard study relied on data from 24 countries. They found that as adults, the daughters of working mothers are more likely to be employed.
More precisely, they are 4.5% more likely to exercise a professional activity than the daughters of stay-at-home mothers. If this figure seems low to you, think again. Indeed, these results are statistically significant at 99%. This means that the probability that they are due to chance is less than 1%.
The study yielded another surprising result. Daughters of mothers who worked as children are more likely to hold managerial positions. Kathleen McGinn, professor at Harvard University and lead author of this study, explains her discovery:
“We thought we would find some positive effects on the salaried activity of girls, but we did not expect that it could also have repercussions on the importance of responsibilities in their work. »
Indeed, the numbers are impressive. After controlling for gender roles in their results (a technique to remove any stereotypes related to gender differences from their study), the researchers found that 33% of daughters of working mothers hold managerial positions. , 25% more than the daughters of stay-at-home mothers.
According to Professor McGinn:“What I take away from this study is that working mothers create a special environment, an environment that profoundly affects the way children perceive life. When a child has a working mother, their attitudes about gender roles change. In particular, there is a change in the perception of appropriate behavior for girls AND appropriate behavior for boys. »
To arrive at these results, the study used data from 24 countries, taken from several surveys of the International Social Survey Program, conducted in 2002 and 2012.
The researchers based themselves in particular on the responses of respondents whose mother worked for more than a year (full-time or part-time) when they were children. To assess these responses, the researchers used statistical regression methods to analyze their multivariate relationships.
The study indicates that the positive effects on the children of a working mother are most pronounced in countries with so-called “stagnant moderation” — such as France, the United States and the United Kingdom.
Countries with stagnant moderation are countries where respondents generally held moderate perceptions of gender issues and egalitarianism. A country is considered to be in stagnant moderation if attitudes remain the same 10 years later (in the case of this study, in 2002 and 2012).
According to McGinn, the incomes of women whose mothers worked are higher than the incomes of women, daughters of stay-at-home mothers. In the US, that's a difference of $5,200.
For Professor McGinn, there is no doubt. Working as a mother has positive and lasting benefits for their children.
She concludes:“When a mother goes to work, she helps her children understand that life is full of possibilities and great prospects for the future. »
Of course, mothers who take care of their children full-time also offer their children a future full of promise. They give them a framework that also allows them to flourish and transmit to them different values.
