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Is maternal employment related to childhood obesity?

Author

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  • Wencke Gwozdz

    (Copenhagen Business School, Denmark)

Abstract

Childhood obesity has been rising steadily in most parts of the world. Popular speculation attributes some of that increase to rising maternal employment. Employed mothers spend less time at home and thus less time with their children, whose diets and physical activity may suffer. Also, children of working mothers may spend more time in the care of others, whose childcare quality may vary substantially. While a majority of US studies support this hypothesis and have clear policy implications, recent studies in other countries are less conclusive, largely because institutional arrangements differ but also because methodologies do.

Suggested Citation

  • Wencke Gwozdz, 2016. "Is maternal employment related to childhood obesity?," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 267-267, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izawol:journl:y:2016:n:267
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Stephanie von Hinke Kessler Scholder, 2008. "Maternal employment and overweight children: does timing matter?," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 17(8), pages 889-906, August.
    2. Cawley, John & Liu, Feng, 2012. "Maternal employment and childhood obesity: A search for mechanisms in time use data," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 10(4), pages 352-364.
    3. Gwozdz, Wencke & Sousa-Poza, Alfonso & Reisch, Lucia A. & Ahrens, Wolfgang & Eiben, Gabriele & M. Fernandéz-Alvira, Juan & Hadjigeorgiou, Charalampos & De Henauw, Stefaan & Kovács, Eva & Lauria, Fabio, 2013. "Maternal employment and childhood obesity – A European perspective," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(4), pages 728-742.
    4. Chris Herbst & Erdal Tekin, 2011. "Child care subsidies and childhood obesity," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 9(3), pages 349-378, September.
    5. Peng Nie & Alfonso Sousa-Poza, 2014. "Maternal employment and childhood obesity in China: evidence from the China Health and Nutrition Survey," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(20), pages 2418-2428, July.
    6. Anderson, Patricia M., 2012. "Parental employment, family routines and childhood obesity," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 10(4), pages 340-351.
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    8. Ziol-Guest, Kathleen M. & Dunifon, Rachel E. & Kalil, Ariel, 2013. "Parental employment and children's body weight: Mothers, others, and mechanisms," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 52-59.
    9. Suzanne Bianchi, 2000. "Maternal employment and time with children: Dramatic change or surprising continuity?," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 37(4), pages 401-414, November.
    10. Li, Jianghong & Johnson, Sarah E. & Han, Wen-Jui & Andrews, Sonia & Kendall, Garth & Strazdins, Lyndall & Dockery, Alfred, 2014. "Parents' Nonstandard Work Schedules and Child Well-Being: A Critical Review of the Literature," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 35(1), pages 53-73.
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    Cited by:

    1. Jing Zhang & Zongye Cai & Huamin Peng & Tom Emery, 2022. "Early Childhood Care Trends and Associations with Child Health Well-being in China: Evidence from the CHNS 1991 to 2011 Data," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 17(5), pages 2789-2807, October.
    2. Bezawit T. Agiro & Wei-Chiao Huang, 2020. "Re-Examining the Effect of Maternal Employment on Child Overweight: The Case of School-Age Children," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 41(1), pages 140-157, March.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    childhood obesity; maternal employment; childcare;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth

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