Do stay-at-home mothers affect children’s academic outcomes?
Faculty Mentor(s) Name(s)
Brooke Conaway
Abstract
In 2011, the US Bureau of Labor and Statistics found that 70% of married women with children were working, up from the 10% working in 1940. Using national, cross-sectional data from Add Health, I estimate whether having a stay-at-home mother affects childhood academic outcomes. It is becoming increasingly more difficult for families to live on one income in the United States, and it is important to understand whether this affects children’s academic development. Previous work focused on smaller populations indicates a positive effect on test scores and grade point averages among adolescents with an unemployed or part-time working mother, as opposed to full-time working mothers. My dependent variable is a score that follows the 4.0 GPA scale that I calculated based on students' self-reported grades in grades 7-12 for the previous quarter in 4 main subjects. My key independent variable “homemaker” is a dummy variable equal to one if the student listed their mother’s profession as “homemaker.” Using a more nationally representative sample, I found that stay-at-home mothers have a negative effect on their children’s academic outcomes.
Start Date
27-3-2024 1:10 PM
End Date
27-3-2024 1:18 PM
Location
Atkinson 107
Do stay-at-home mothers affect children’s academic outcomes?
Atkinson 107
In 2011, the US Bureau of Labor and Statistics found that 70% of married women with children were working, up from the 10% working in 1940. Using national, cross-sectional data from Add Health, I estimate whether having a stay-at-home mother affects childhood academic outcomes. It is becoming increasingly more difficult for families to live on one income in the United States, and it is important to understand whether this affects children’s academic development. Previous work focused on smaller populations indicates a positive effect on test scores and grade point averages among adolescents with an unemployed or part-time working mother, as opposed to full-time working mothers. My dependent variable is a score that follows the 4.0 GPA scale that I calculated based on students' self-reported grades in grades 7-12 for the previous quarter in 4 main subjects. My key independent variable “homemaker” is a dummy variable equal to one if the student listed their mother’s profession as “homemaker.” Using a more nationally representative sample, I found that stay-at-home mothers have a negative effect on their children’s academic outcomes.