Attitudes Toward Home-Based Employment for Mothers of Young Children: Australian Evidence
International Journal of Social Welfare, Forthcoming
Posted: 24 Nov 2008 Last revised: 7 Apr 2015
Date Written: December 1, 2008
Abstract
People have mixed feelings about paid employment for mothers with young children. This might reflect opposition to women's work per se or, instead, fear that children are harmed by mothers' absence from the home. To find out, we developed new questions differentiating support for or opposition to mother's working for pay depending on whether the employment is home-based or outside the home. Data from a large representative national sample of Australia (n=1324) show that public support for employment is about 30 percentage points greater if the mother works at home. Structural equation analyses show some social differences in levels of support. Thus work at home provides a way of increasing mother's labor force participation and earnings (with the welfare benefits that implies) that is congruent with public opinion.
Keywords: women, employment, at home, Australia, attitudes, moral beliefs
JEL Classification: D13, D60, D63, J22
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation