Morrill MS. The effects of maternal employment on the health of school-age children.
JOURNAL OF HEALTH ECONOMICS 2011;
30:240-257. [PMID:
21316779 DOI:
10.1016/j.jhealeco.2011.01.001]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2009] [Revised: 08/31/2010] [Accepted: 01/10/2011] [Indexed: 05/30/2023]
Abstract
The effects of maternal employment on children's health are theoretically ambiguous and challenging to identify. There are trade-offs between income and time, and a mother's decision to work reflects, in part, her children's health and her underlying preferences. I utilize exogenous variation in each child's youngest sibling's eligibility for kindergarten as an instrument. Using the restricted-access National Health Interview Survey (1985-2004), I identify the effects on overnight hospitalizations, asthma episodes, and injuries/poisonings for children ages 7-17. Maternal employment increases the probability of each adverse health event by nearly 200 percent. These effects are robust and do not reflect a non-representative local effect.
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