NCJ Number
95540
Journal
Journal of Family Issues Volume: 2 Issue: 4 Dated: (December 1981) Pages: 509-530
Date Published
1981
Length
22 pages
Annotation
The child abuse and neglect literature suggests support for three directions of a hypothesis relating maternal employment to violence toward children: (1) working mothers are more likely to abuse their children than nonworking mothers; (2) women who do not work are more likely to abuse; and (3) maternal employment is not related to child abuse.
Abstract
We examine the relationship between maternal employment and violence toward children. Nonworking mothers had the highest rate of 'Overall Violence.' There were no statistically significant differences on the 'Child Abuse Index' between working and nonworking mothers. Excess domestic responsibility, not sharing decisions concerning the mother's work, having preschool children, and having an unemployed husband increased the rate of maternal violence. Violence among nonworking mothers was less if their husbands earned more than $20,000 per year, if the decision about the mother's work was a joint one, and if they had older children. Finally, we discuss the policy implication of these findings. Tables, 3 notes, and about 50 references are given. (Author abstract modified)