Marital Status and Mothers’ Time Use: Childcare,Housework, Leisure,and Sleep

Assumptions that single mothers are “time poor” compared with married mothers are ubiquitous. We tested theorized associations derived from the time poverty thesis and the gender perspective using the 2003–2012 American Time Use Surveys (ATUS). We found marital status differentiated housework, leisure, and sleep time, but did not influence the amount of time that mothers provided childcare. Net of the number of employment hours, married mothers did more housework and slept less than never-married and divorced mothers, counter to expectations of the time poverty thesis. Never-married and cohabiting mothers reported more total and more sedentary leisure time than married mothers. We assessed the influence of demographic differences among mothers to account for variation in their time use by marital status. Compositional differences explained more than two-thirds of the variance in sedentary leisure time between married and never-married mothers, but only one-third of the variance between married and cohabiting mothers. The larger unexplained gap in leisure quality between cohabiting and married mothers is consistent with the gender perspective.     

Mother's professional career versus reproductive behaviour in the family life cycle

A nationally representative survey of 2753 urban married women aged 20-54 years was conducted in 1989 in Poland. The family life cycle is described as family formation stage (first child is born), family development stage, family stabilization stage (last child is born and first child leaves home), and family shrinking stage (all children leave home). The sample included 69.1% in the family development stage, 20.2% in the stabilization stage, and 10.7% in the shrinking stage. Employment of women increased from 81.1% during the development stage to 89.9% during the stabilization stage. Labor force activity increased over time. The highest professional activity was 93% during the first stabilization stage. Only 5.6% of the sampled women had never worked. 54.8% had worked continually without breaks. Differences in parity among working and nonworking mothers changed over the life cycle. The parity of working mothers during the development stage was 1.85 compared to 2.12 among nonworking mothers. During the stabilization stage parity was 1.87 among working mothers and 2.57 among nonworking mothers. During the shrinking stage, parity was 2.57 among working mothers and 3.23 among nonworking mothers. The average number of children decreases in subsequent cohorts. The average number of children was 2.83 for cohorts married after 1959, 2.25 for cohorts married during 1960-69, and 2.08 for cohorts married during 1970-79. Birth decreases by cohort were quicker among working mothers. The difference between first and last cohort was 0.55 children for working mothers and 0.89 children for nonworking mothers. For all families of working and nonworking mothers in all cohorts and at all family life cycle stages, parity decreased with increased level of education. Little change occurred among mothers who never worked (inactive mothers). Working mothers' families completed reproduction 30 months earlier than inactive mothers. The entire reproductive period shortened between the first and last cohort from 100.4 months to 48.8 months. The differences between working and nonworking mothers reproductive years declined from about 3 years to about 2 years between the first and last cohort. The probability of bearing subsequent children is found to be irregular.     

Diverging Destinies: Maternal Education and the Developmental Gradient in Time With Children

Using data from the 2003?C2007 American Time Use Surveys (ATUS), we compare mothers?? (N = 6,640) time spent in four parenting activities across maternal education and child age subgroups. We test the hypothesis that highly educated mothers not only spend more time in active child care than less-educated mothers but also alter the composition of that time to suit children??s developmental needs more than less-educated mothers. Results support this hypothesis: not only do highly educated mothers invest more time in basic care and play when youngest children are infants or toddlers than when children are older, but differences across education groups in basic care and play time are largest among mothers with infants or toddlers; by contrast, highly educated mothers invest more time in management activities when children are 6 to 13?years old than when children are younger, and differences across education groups in management are largest among mothers with school-aged children. These patterns indicate that the education gradient in mothers?? time with children is characterized by a ??developmental gradient.??     

Negotiating Religiosity and Sexual Identity Among Hispanic Lesbian Mothers

ABSTRACT

Hispanic lesbian mothers face bicultural tensions that stigmatize their roles as mothers. Religion could produce heightened conflict given their potential incompatibility with the role of a “good mother.” In particular, there is a potential for conflict between the definition of a “good mother” set forth in Catholicism and the sexual orientation of Hispanic lesbians. I conducted semistructured in-depth interviews to examine how Hispanic lesbian mothers negotiate their Catholic religious identity with aspects of their sexual identity. More specifically, I examined the strategies that Hispanic lesbian mothers use to reconcile or navigate perceived conflict between their roles as a Catholic and as a lesbian. The research questions to be answered were: How do Hispanic lesbian mothers negotiate a Catholic religious and a sexual identity? How do Hispanic lesbian mothers create and maintain a religious narrative? How do Hispanic lesbian mothers redefine religion and spirituality?     

Living Arrangements and the Well-Being of Single Mothers in Japan

The goal of this study is to evaluate the extent to which the well-being of single mothers in Japan is related to coresidence with other adults. Using data from a representative survey of households headed by single mothers, we examine two measures of subjective well-being: perceived economic circumstances and self-rated health. One-fourth of the single mothers surveyed were coresiding with another adult(s) and it is clear that these women fare significantly better than their non-coresiding counterparts on both measures of well-being. Net of several theoretically relevant sociodemographic, family, and employment characteristics, single mothers living with others were significantly less likely to report somewhat difficult/difficult economic circumstances or fair/poor health. Efforts to account for potential endogeneity between well-being and living arrangements suggested that self-rated health, but not subjective economic well-being, is related to selection into coresidence. Single mothers in fair/poor health appear more likely to coreside with others and, accounting for this selection, intergenerational coresidence appears to be very beneficial for self-rated health. We discuss the implications of these findings for processes of stratification in Japan in light of the limited public income support available to single mothers.     

Why are teenagers in the United States less likely to breast-feed than older women?

Teenage mothers are much less likely than older mothers to breastfeed their infants. The lower breastfeeding rate among teenagers aged 16-19, compared with women aged 20-29, is due almost entirely to the fact that teenage mothers tend to have characteristics associated with a lower likelihood of breastfeeding among all women, such as lower educational level, lower income, and being unmarried. Even so, nearly 40% of the difference between teenage mothers aged 15 or less and mothers aged 20-29 remains unexplained by these factors and may be due to developmental aspects of adolescence, such as greater egocentricity and greater concern about body image.     

The Dying Mother

In a culture where concerted attempts are being made to postpone or circumvent inevitable processes of human life, the poignancy of a mother diagnosed with cancer provides a platform from which to explore broader cultural understandings of mothering. This paper examines four films that contend with the theme of mothering with terminal cancer. Despite being made decades apart and for different audiences, the films share seemingly unchanging representations of mothers. They are portrayed as having a choice between dying as “good” mothers or risking being labeled as unfit mothers. Instead of using cancer as an opportunity to become better selves (as expected of others who are dealing with cancer), dying mothers are expected to find better selves for their children. In the process they must learn the difficult lesson that they are required to both sacrifice all for their children and acknowledge being imperfect as mothers, that is, being replaceable as mothers. Young mothers, in particular, are assumed to be incapable of being good mothers.     

Sex composition of children as a determinant of marriage disruption and marriage formation: Evidence from Swedish register data

This paper investigates the effect of sex composition of children on the propensity of Swedish mothers to enter and leave marriage. Swedish population-register data are used to estimate relative risks of marriage formation and marriage dissolution for mothers with different numbers and sexes of children. The large number of observations allows us to get a very accurate picture of such relationships even if they are relatively weak. Morganet al. (1988) used survey data for the US and claimed to have found that one- and two-child parents in that country had lower divorce risks if they had sons than if they had daughters. For Sweden, we find only a minor effect in the same direction for three-child mothers. For two-child mothers, we instead find that the divorce risk is slightly reduced if a woman has one child of each sex. The divorce risk of one-child mothers is not at all affected by the sex of the child. Finally, the sex composition of children has no effect on the propensity of Swedish mothers to enter the married state.     

Mothers’ perceptions and experiences of skin-to-skin contact after vaginal birth in Saudi Arabia: A cross-sectional study

ProblemThe World Health Organization recommends immediate skin-to-skin contact after birth, however, worldwide, separation of mothers and infant is common.BackgroundIn Saudi Arabia, there is a lack of research exploring mothers’ experiences of skin-to-skin contact after birth.AimTo estimate the rate of skin-to-skin contact and describe mothers’ perceptions and experiences of immediate skin-to-skin contact after vaginal birth in two largest hospitals in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.MethodsA cross-sectional study conducted in 2017. A total of 254 mothers completed the survey on the postnatal ward (92 % response rate). The survey consisted of 36 closed and open-ended items. Data were described using summary statistics and free text comments were analysed using content analysis.ResultsThe rate of direct skin-to-skin contact was 15%. A further 54% of mothers had the baby placed on their chest/abdomen but with a sheet/gown between them. Mothers reported favourable perceptions towards skin-to-skin contact and reported the practice as acceptable (67%). Most mothers did not express concerns about feeling exposed (85%) or that skin-to-skin contact was inconsistent with norms of modesty or culture (87%). The free text comments indicated that most mothers felt positive about their experience of skin-to-skin contact, while some mothers felt overwhelmed and unprepared.Discussion and ConclusionsSkin-to-skin contact was not routinely implemented after birth and the rate was low. Mothers held positive perceptions and wanted to practice skin-to-skin contact. Policy makers and clinicians should acknowledge mothers’ needs and feelings by facilitating skin-to-skin contact to achieve optimal outcomes for mothers and infants.     

A dynamic analysis of the effect of child care costs on the work decisions of low-income mothers with infants

Child care costs reduce the net benefit of working and consequently influence mothers' decisions to work. They affect the employment of low-income mothers in particular because they represent a larger portion of these mothers' earnings. I used a hazard framework to examine a mother's decisions about work and hours of work after childbirth. I focused on low-income mothers with infants because they are the ones who may be most affected by child care costs. The results showed that child care costs are a barrier to work that is larger for low-income mothers than for non-low-income mothers. Further, child care costs have large negative effects on hours of work.     

Is giving or receiving psychologically beneficial to older mothers in South Korea? Importance of marital status

In order to understand intergenerational financial transfers and subjective well-being for older mothers, this study argues that marital status is an important factor to be considered. Using the first wave of the Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging (KLoSA), this study finds that married older mothers report higher levels of life satisfaction when they provide economic support but widowed older mothers feel higher levels of life satisfaction when they receive economic support. Also, regular or irregular financial support appears to also matter in the associations between financial support and life satisfaction. These findings suggest that married and widowed older mothers have different viewpoints about the parent-children relationship.     

A peer support intervention for first-time mothers: Feasibility and preliminary efficacy of the mummy buddy program

BackgroundThe transition to motherhood, although joyous, can be highly stressful, and the availability of professional postpartum support for mothers is often limited. Peer volunteer support programs may offer a viable and cost-effective method to provide community-based support for new mothers.AimTo determine the feasibility of a peer volunteer support program—The Mummy Buddy Program—in which experienced volunteer mothers are paired with, and trained to offer social support to, first-time mothers.MethodsUsing a single-group non-randomised feasibility trial, a total of 56 experienced mothers participated in the Mummy Buddy training program, which was focused on education and practical exercises relating to the provision of various forms of social support. Experienced mothers (‘Mummy Buddies’) were subsequently paired with expectant first-time mothers (n = 47 pairs), and were encouraged to provide support until 24-weeks postpartum.FindingsIn terms of key feasibility considerations, 95.1% of Mummy Buddies felt that they were trained sufficiently to perform their role, and 85.8% of New Mothers were satisfied with the support provided by their Buddy. Analyses of preliminary efficacy (i.e., program outcomes) revealed that the first-time mothers maintained normal levels of stress and depressive symptomology, and possessed relatively strong maternal functioning, across the program duration.ConclusionThe Mummy Buddy Program appears to be a feasible and potentially valuable peer volunteer support program for first-time mothers. This study provides a foundation for program expansion and for work designed to examine program outcomes—for first-time mothers, Mummy Buddies, and entire family units—within a sufficiently-powered randomised controlled trial.     

A cross-cultural study on surrogate mother's empathy and maternal–foetal attachment

BackgroundTraditional and gestational surrogate mothers assist infertile couples by carrying their children. In 2005, a meta-analysis on surrogacy was conducted but no study had examined empathy and maternal–foetal attachment of surrogate mothers. Assessments of surrogate mothers show no sign of psychopathology, but one study showed differences on several MMPI-2 scales compared to a normative sample: surrogate mothers identified with stereotypically masculine traits such as assertiveness and competition. They had a higher self-esteem and lower levels of anxiety and depression.Research objectiveTo determine if there is a difference in empathy and maternal–foetal attachment of surrogate mothers compared to a comparison group of mothers.MethodsThree groups of European traditional and gestational surrogate mothers (n = 10), Anglo-Saxon traditional and gestational surrogate mothers (n = 34) and a European normative sample of mothers (n = 32) completed four published psychometric instruments: the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (empathy index), the Hospital Anxiety and Depressions Scale and the MC20, a social desirability scale. Pregnant surrogate mothers filled the Maternal Antenatal Attachment Scale (n = 11). Statistical non-parametric analyses of variance were conducted.FindingsDepending on cultural background, surrogate mothers present differences in terms of empathy, anxiety and depression, social desirability and quality of attachment to the foetus compared to a normative sample.ConclusionsEnvironment plays a role for traditional and gestational surrogacy. Surrogate mothers of both groups are less anxious and depressed than normative samples. Maternal–foetal attachment is strong with a slightly lower quality of attachment. Surrogate mother's empathy indexes are similar to normative samples, sometimes higher.     

Child Support in Immigrant Families

In this study, we use nationally representative data from the U.S. Current Population Survey-Child Support Supplement (N = 28,047) to examine differences in nonresident fathers’ material contributions between children of native and foreign-born mothers. We focus on contributions provided through the formal child support system (whether the mother has a child support agreement and the amount received), as well as support provided informally (the amount of informal cash and whether she receives any in-kind support). We control for a variety of individual and household characteristics, including whether the nonresident father lives in a different state or in a different country. We find that foreign-born mothers are much less likely to have a child support agreement than native-born mothers, but have similar amounts of formal support, once an agreement is in place. Compared to native-born mothers, foreign-born mothers are also much less likely to receive in-kind support, but this difference is completely explained by fathers’ distance from the child. Foreign-born mothers do not differ at all on the amount of informal cash support received from fathers. Nonresident fathers’ residence outside the U.S. is an important mechanism through which nativity affects the likelihood of having a child support order and receiving any in-kind support, but not the amount of formal support (given an order) or the amount of informal cash support. Aggregate comparisons mask important differences within the foreign-born group by mothers’ and children’s citizenship status, years in the U.S., and region of origin.     

Maternity Leave and Mothers’ Long-Term Sickness Absence: Evidence From West Germany

Exploiting unique German administrative data, we estimate the association between an expansion in maternity leave duration from two to six months in 1979 and mothers’ postbirth long-term sickness absence over a period of three decades after childbirth. Adopting a difference-in-difference approach, we first assess the reform’s labor market effects and, subsequently, prebirth and postbirth maternal long-term sickness absence, accounting for the potential role of the reform in mothers’ selection into employment. Consistent with previous research, our estimates show that the leave extension caused mothers to significantly delay their return to work within the first year after childbirth. We then provide difference-in-difference estimates for the number and length of spells of long-term sickness absence among returned mothers. Our findings suggest that among those returned, mothers subject to the leave extension exhibit a higher incidence of long-term sickness absence compared with mothers who gave birth before the reform. This also holds true after we control for observable differences in prebirth illness histories. At the same time, we find no pronounced effects on mothers’ medium-run labor market attachment following the short-run delay in return to work, which might rationalize a negative causal health effect. Breaking down the results by mothers’ prebirth health status suggests that the higher incidence of long-term sickness absence among mothers subject to the reform may be explained by the fact that the reform facilitated the reentry of a negative health selection into the labor market.     

Navigating infant feeding supports after migration: Perspectives of Arabic and Chinese mothers and health professionals in Australia

Optimal feeding practices can establish lifelong, transgenerational and global health benefits. Migration and cultural factors impact infant feeding practices and the support mothers receive for optimal infant feeding. This qualitative study explored support for infant feeding among Arabic and Chinese speaking migrant mothers in Australia.Semi-structured focus groups were conducted in language with 24 Arabic and 22 Chinese-Mandarin speaking migrant mothers with children under five years of age. Individual interviews were conducted in English with 20 health professionals working with Arabic or Chinese speaking migrant families. Data were thematically analysed using the framework method.Traditional family networks and trusted bi-cultural doctors were influential infant feeding supports for mothers. Health professionals perceived maternal and child health services to be poorly understood, and some mothers who accessed services felt they were not always culturally sensitive. Mothers sought additional information and support through online sources and peers. Both mothers and health professionals recognised the challenges of managing conflicting infant feeding advice and seeking best-practice support.The findings of this study highlight opportunities for health professionals to better support migrant mothers’ infant feeding practices, for example through engaging families and working with doctors. There is a need for greater cultural sensitivity within maternal and child health services and culturally relevant programs to support healthy infant feeding practices among migrant communities.     

Design,development and usability testing of Essential Coaching for Every Mother: A postnatal text message educational intervention

BackgroundThe transition to motherhood is an exciting yet challenging period that requires physical, emotional, and social adjustment. During the postpartum period, mothers require support and information to ensure a smooth transition and adjustment to motherhood. One innovative strategy to provide mothers with this information is mobile health (mHealth), and specifically, text messaging.ObjectiveTo describe the design, development and usability testing of a postnatal text message intervention called Essential Coaching for Every Mother.MethodsFirst time mothers (n = 11) and postpartum healthcare providers (n = 18) were involved in iterative interviewing in Halifax, Canada. Adaption of content occurred through three rounds of user testing using semi-structured interviews. The Information Assessment Method (IAM) Parents survey was also completed by mothers.ResultsThree cycles of iterative testing were conducted with eight participants (3 mothers, 5 healthcare providers), thirteen participants (8 mothers, 5 healthcare providers) and 8 participants (8 healthcare providers), respectively. Messages evolved from risk-focused to prevention and education focused. Mothers felt the messages addressed their needs and healthcare providers ensured the content was consistent with the messaging currently provided to postpartum mothers.ConclusionEssential Coaching for Every Mother is the first postnatal educational text message intervention developed for mothers in Halifax, Canada. We sought to involve first time mothers (end-users) and postpartum healthcare providers (experts) in the development and usability evaluation to ensure the intervention adequately met needs and was consistent with current practices related to postpartum education.     

Working and caring for large families: do mothers face a trade-off?

Does having three or more children lower the chance that mothers participate in the labour force compared to those who have two children? Most of the previous literature on this topic describes the substantial indirect costs of children for first-time mothers, but having additional children at higher parities can entail even higher indirect costs. This paper finds a labour force participation gap between mothers who have three or more children and those who have two children. It explores whether this gap is caused by the selectivity of those who purposely choose to have large families or by family size itself. It also questions if the gap occurs simply because mothers with 3 or more children are consequently more likely to care for young children: 42?% of them have a child under the age of five compared to only 38.7?% of mothers with 2 children. A priori, it is unclear if the employment gap between these two groups of mothers is driven by the difference in the age of the youngest child or by the difference in the number of children. This paper contributes to the literature by disentangling the effect of having an additional child from having an additional young child in the household with a simple but innovative approach (grouping by mother??s age and her age at the second pregnancy) that avoids controlling for the age of the youngest child in regression.     

The influence of the family on premarital sexual attitudes and behavior

This research has expanded our understanding of the determinants of adolescent sexuality in several directions. We have used a study of mothers and children to construct and estimate a model of the intergenerational transmission of sexual attitudes and behavior. With data collected from both mothers and children, we were able to proceed further than most past research and to consider both the attitudes and behaviors of mothers as reported by the mothers themselves. These data permitted an investigation of the determinants of maternal attitudes concerning adolescent sexuality as well as an examination of the influences of the attitudes and experiences of mothers on the attitudes, perceptions, and behavior of children. Obviously, limiting the study to white families prevents generalization of our findings to other subgroups of the population. The findings demonstrate the importance and relevance of parental and adolescent attitudes in understanding adolescent sexuality. Premarital sexuality is a salient issue to both young people and their parents. There are, however, very important and substantial differences in the attitudes of parents and children. On average, the attitudes of young people today are much less restrictive than those of their parents, reflecting either life cycle differences or the impact of social change. The intergenerational difference is recognized by young people themselves and probably affects the ability of parents to assist their maturing children in adjusting to and dealing with their sexuality--a difficulty likely to be reflected in the relative lack of success sexually active young people have in preventing pregnancy. Our findings also add to the research literature in demonstrating that although children, on average, have more permissive attitudes than their parents, the attitudes of individual parents tend to be reflected in the attitudes of individual children. Children whose mothers have less restrictive attitudes have, on average, less restrictive attitudes themselves. Further, the attitudes of mothers are also reflected in the behavior of their children, so on average, mothers with more permissive attitudes have children who are more sexually active. The influence of maternal attitudes, however, is stronger for children's attitudes than for their behavior. Of course, variability in children's attitudes and behavior--and even their perceptions of maternal attitudes--can only be partially explained by the attitudes of their mothers; but presumably, if the attitudes of other important family members, including fathers and siblings, were known, the prediction of adolescent attitudes would improve.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)     

How does the stork delegate work? Childbearing and the gender division of paid and unpaid labour

I estimate the relationship between fertility and the allocation of paid and unpaid labour among couples, accounting for the potentially endogenous nature of fertility with two instruments. Additional children lead to a reduction in paid hours and to an even larger increase in unpaid hours among mothers. An increase in fertility also leads to a decline in the proportion of mothers working and of mothers working full-time in paid employment. In contrast, additional children are not related to paternal paid hours, although there is evidence of a small increase in unpaid hours spent on childcare.