No Harm to Kids of Working Mothers' - Study

No risk of behavioral problems is seen among kids of working mums, finds study. The long-term study of almost 13,000 UK boys and girls found no evidence that young children suffered by not having a mother who stayed at home.

The researchers found the ideal was for children to have both parents living at home and both working.

The findings will be a relief to the 29 percent of mothers who work full time, as previous research suggested children of working mothers were at risk of developing behavioural problems, reports The Daily Express.

However boys' behaviour suffered if the mother was the main breadwinner, though girls reacted well to having a working mother.

"Some studies have suggested whether or not mothers work in the first year of a child's life can be particularly important for later outcomes," said Dr Anne McMunn, whose study was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council.

"In this study we did not see any evidence for a longer-term detrimental influence on child behaviour of mothers working during the child's first year of life," she added.

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The researchers found the role model of a working mother improved the behaviour of girls, while a working father improved boys' behaviour.

They also found that both boys and girls were likely to do better if both their parents were going out to work.

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The study also found that five-year-olds living in a single-mother household or living with two parents who did not work were much more likely to have behavioural problems than children where both parents were working.

Source-ANI