Well-Being Penalty for Employed Mothers? Parental Work Arrangements and Maternal Well-Being

PWP-CCPR-2014-009

Abstract

This study examines linkages between parental work arrangements and mothers’ subjective wellbeing, asking how mothers’ market work, the presence of a partner or spouse, and partners’ work patterns predict subjective well-being while caring for children. Further, it examines potential mediators of these linkages. In doing so, we contribute to the literature on parental employment and parenting by shedding light on contextual features that influence the moment-to-moment interactions between mothers and their children. We find that mother’s long work hours are linked to more fatigue in time with children. Additionally, father’s non-employment and long work hours are associated with reductions in maternal well-being while parenting. Not having a partner was strongly associated with mother’s subjective well-being in parenting; single mothers were consistently less happy and more sad and stressed in their time with children than were partnered mothers. Finally, looking at a broad range of activities with children, we find that the type of activity matters for subjective well-being in time with kids; playing and socializing are associated with improved well-being, while cleaning and market work are associated with reduced well-being. Most of the parenting activities we assessed, however, reveal the “mixed bag” of parenting—it is meaningful but also stressful. These findings show the value of considering momentary assessments of well-being across a multidimensional set of indicators.