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The Effect of Maternal Employment on the Likelihood of a Child Being Overweight

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  • Anna Zhu

    (School of Economics, The University of New South Wales)

Abstract

Childhood obesity has increased dramatically in the developed world. One cause of this trend, suggested by studies in the United States, is the increase in maternal employment. This paper explores if the causal relationship exists in Australia. Using recent data from the Longitudinal Survey of Australian Children (LSAC), a 2SLS procedure and a Full Information Maximum Likelihood (FIML) model that jointly estimates a multinomial treatment and binary outcome is used to control for endogeneity and self-selection bias, respectively. The results consistently show that maternal employment does have an impact on the likelihood of a child being overweight and that this impact is positive and statistically significant.

Suggested Citation

  • Anna Zhu, 2007. "The Effect of Maternal Employment on the Likelihood of a Child Being Overweight," Discussion Papers 2007-17, School of Economics, The University of New South Wales.
    • Handle: RePEc:swe:wpaper:2007-17
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    File URL: http://wwwdocs.fce.unsw.edu.au/economics/Research/WorkingPapers/2007_17.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    5. Angela Fertig & Gerhard Glomm & Rusty Tchernis, 2009. "The connection between maternal employment and childhood obesity: inspecting the mechanisms," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 7(3), pages 227-255, September.
    6. Gary S. Becker, 1981. "A Treatise on the Family," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number beck81-1.
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    9. Blau, Francine D & Grossberg, Adam J, 1992. "Maternal Labor Supply and Children's Cognitive Development," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 74(3), pages 474-481, August.
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    Cited by:

    1. 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.
    2. Georgia S. Papoutsi & Andreas C. Drichoutis & Rodolfo M. Nayga Jr., 2013. "The Causes Of Childhood Obesity: A Survey," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(4), pages 743-767, September.
    3. 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.
    4. Mohammad Jakaria & Rejaul Karim Bakshi & M. Mehedi Hasan, 2022. "Is maternal employment detrimental to children’s nutritional status? Evidence from Bangladesh," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(1), pages 85-111, February.
    5. Jens Bonke & Jane Greve, 2012. "Children’s health-related life-styles: how parental child care affects them," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 10(4), pages 557-572, December.
    6. Greve, Jane, 2011. "New results on the effect of maternal work hours on children's overweight status: Does the quality of child care matter?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(5), pages 579-590, October.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Child obesity; Maternal employment; Regression analysis; 2SLS; FIML; Endogeneity; Self-selection bias;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I10 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - General
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
    • C30 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - General
    • C31 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Cross-Sectional Models; Spatial Models; Treatment Effect Models; Quantile Regressions; Social Interaction Models
    • C35 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Discrete Regression and Qualitative Choice Models; Discrete Regressors; Proportions

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