Research finds that daughters of working mothers earn more. Why are all the comments so sceptical?

I work 4.5 hours a week in a minimum wage job

Glad to see that my daughter will benefit from this

Having said that I am jacking it in within the next few months

yes, I could look at the statistics and they could show that the daughters of women who work are more likely to have better careers, but after I split up from my x, my children needed me more, not less, and besides, what about my son!? and what about me!? I went back to work only when I could make it work around my other responsibilities, so according to this study I am a working but I find because I have only a job, i still identify with sahms, and/or single parents who can't afford to work.

One little thing I noticed somewhere on the thread was that their definition of a working mother was anyone who'd worked (P/T or F/T I guess?) for at least a year before their DC were 14. So on the spectrum of WOH/SAH experience a pretty generous/ inclusive interpretation of being a working mother.
So the SAHM in the study were either very committed to that role of motherhood/ lifestyle
or if open to working outside the home at some point were finding that seriously challenging to achieve (I am sympathetic as I know it's not easy to juggle both for all sorts of reasons)
So, I just think it's interesting to consider what we're looking at here, and what their definitions were. As I said in my earlier post there's obviously a big spectrum of experience to consider.
I'd think one of the main conclusions would be how minor any differences in outcome were for the next generation! So many other factors I suspect!

GirlSailor - yes, careers vs jobs is a hugely important distinction to make here.

agressivebunting - yes yes yes to school crap eating up a lot of time.

It's nice to read that something positive might come out of working as us WOHM are usually hit by lots of negatives about how childcare produces psychopaths in the UK press.

As a wohm thats all I take from it. A minor sadness about role models. If Im honest my SAHM has provided no role model for my over achieving work life at all but my father provided huge amounts. Does it matter which parent it comes from?

Possibly the article is simply an oversimplification but it seems to vague and generalised to extrapolate anything of mass significance.

Bonnie

I agree and tbh whilst I think it is good news for some people this type of research can only generalise and speculate.
There are far many variables for a start.
My dd is hoping to enter the same industry that I worked in over 20 odd years ago and many aspects haven't changed at all.
I know this as my dh works in the same industry and I have kept up to date with issues.
I can advise her just the same as if I was still working.

I also think that whether your sons learn the importance of housework is down to parenting not whether your mum works or not. Teach them to do it and make it their responsibility, it isn't rocket science.

As to leading by example in terms of a mother being employed I'm finding the complete opposite in my dds future plans. Whereas her best friend who is G&T academically is being taught by her working mum how to raise children and be good at childcare "because it's her role".
I can see how the research has come to these conclusions though and do agree it sounds good for those it applies to.

yeh,owlsescapade I agree with you.

I think, the experience of re-entering the workplace (as a mother) after a ten year gap taught me as much about sexism and ageism as my 13 years in the city in a male dominated environment.

I am well able to advise my daughter, if she chooses to listen! and it's not the return to work post maternity leave that has equipped me to give this advice.

Miggsie

As a working woman I can advise DD on work, attitudes of other workers on women in STEM, best ways of dealing with this (30 years of experience) which DH wouldn't have as great an insight into (having never experienced institutional sexism or being groped at work)
Thus DD is able to draw on knowledge about working life that she would only get otherwise from a mentor after she started work (if she actually found a mentor of course)

I'm firmly in the camp that everyone should do whatever works for their own family but it's a bit much to suggest that SAHM can't advise their DDs properly. All the SAHMs I know are well educated and perfectly capable of helping their DDs. I certainly am.

True. Maybe the reason I haven't done that well at earning money is because I feel as though I only have one life and I'm not handing it over to an employer, I value my free time more. Saying that, I do work part-time. There are times when more money would be useful but I think, the bottom line must be that I value time more??
I'm certain my mum was the same. I talk to my daughter as though it's assumed she'll have a better career and earn more than I do.

Daughters of WOHMs do better at work. Presumably daughters of SAHM therefore do better at staying at home? It's only a positive if you believe that the criterion of success is career advancement.

Or if you live in a country where both parents need to work to have enough money to house, feed, clothe their families, or a country where a lot of children live in poverty.

Oh, hang on...

When I read about this research the phrase "the prize for winning the pie eating contest is more pies" came to mind. Daughters of WOHMs do better at work. Presumably daughters of SAHM therefore do better at staying at home? It's only a positive if you believe that the criterion of success is career advancement.

If the only parent is the mother then I think a model of mums doing everything is more present (whether she works or not). Before I could get out to work, my son used to say 'you're good at assembling furniture' and things like that. He son and my daughter see me do housework obviously but they don't see a father there on the sofa not doing it.

It is just common sense, though, isnt it?

A sahms primary role is to look after the home, husband and children. She is seen to care and nurture, ferry kids around. She cooks, she cleans and tidies up.

A wohm is out there earning like men do.

One of these mums models gender equality, the other not so much. (Although I am sure that staying home with kids can be seen as feminist choice as any)

Both parents are role models, whether their offspring is male or female!

yes, because I see that the sahms give their children a lot of hot housing, chauffering, help with homework etc that I don't manage (single parent, workingP.

Yes, yes, Aggressivebunting all this busy work for mothers (because I don't know any fathers who respond to any of this) feels very oppressive.

At what age (the children's) do you have to return to work to make this hold true I wonder?!

I returned to work when my kids were 11 and 8 I think, and my younger child's homework has seriously diminished in quality since then! So I might be a good influence on my older child (and I think that's true) but my younger child's school work has definitely dropped. He's male tough, so that is irrelevant to the study actually.

I'd love the breakdown between SAHM, works from home mum and WOHM.

It stands to reason that a woman currently working full time will be better placed to guide their daughter into good career choices than one whose been out of the working world for ~20 years, and this may result in a faster, more targeted career progression for the daughter.

What would be interesting is if the trend hold true for the daughters of those people who work from home, where home is their employment, say childminders etc. That would suggest this is far more than an obvious cause-and-effect link.

I suspect, though, whatever it turns out to be, it'll all end up being yet another stick to beat women with about their parenting choices.

I third that comment about schools (and LEA's for that matter!) needing to wake up, though - it's be lovely if DD's primary got the message sometime soon, although they have just missed their Outstanding from Ofsted purely on the basis of it, so there's hope!

Rosabud, I grew up with a single mum who worked part time when we were in school - she wouldn't say she had a career though, more a series of jobs. I'm not sure if her working had much of an affect on me as I don't think I remember any mothers not working at all, but I would say in general people's career aspirations do depend on their parents' to quite an extent just from looking at people I know. This study seems to suggest that the mother's career is more important to girls than the father's but I don't know if that applies to mothers who work part time or in low skilled jobs for example.

I would say that having a single mum made us less gendered as a family as I didn't have 2 parents with gendered roles, I just had the example of my mum doing everything and found it confusing when people expected me to do and like certain things based on me being a girl.

I would wonder if a SAH dad means boys do more housework too - I'd guess it would, but I'd also assume a boy with a single mum would too.

Interesting. It is a nice to know after all the reports of WOHM bashing that there is some good news stories. However I too like Bellemere don't measure life success up in economic and status terms. A lot of the most 'successful' career women I know aren't the happiest. Which to me is far more important.

The big bonus I see here is that sons of working mothers do more housework when older.

I read it and while I didn't think it was "irrelevent" I did think that it didn't tell the whole story. It tells you about the impact of having a working mother if you want to have a "successful career" (whatever that is - money?).

At what point should a mother go back to work? 6 weeks? 3 years? 11 years?
What impact does the mother going back to work have on the child's attachment, if the mother was the primary care giver? Is this affected by when she goes back to work?

Also, it feels like it implies that success is solely measured by career and money. Why is this? Is feminism not about choice? I purposely chose to be a SAHM and I have chosen a career that isn't well paid because it's something that I enjoy. If I'm doing exactly what I want to be doing with my life, isn't that a success? I'd say it is.

Interesting post, Girlsailor, especially the distinction between higher and lower earning families. That was my situation when my children were younger, especially pre-school when the childcare bill would have been for the whole day - I simply would not have been earning enough to cover it. I often got "how lucky, you can afford it!" comments but the reality was no holidays/second hand clothes etc. However, I do think that children then pick up a "sense" of the type of family they are in and it affects their own outlook and what they aspire to - my own children often feel they are "not the sort of family" that can go abroad or whatever and it has lowered their own aspirations in a way. It pains me to acknowledge that, but it is true.

So maybe it's the fact that families where women work will tend to be more middle class/high earning families in the first place. As OscarWinning Actress suggests, it's a more complex situation of learned expectations and social mobility rahter than what one particular parent does or does not do.

Having said all that, agree with everyone else that comments sections are a no-go area!! Hope your blood pressure has recovered, OP!

Allen said that schools also need to adjust their demands on parents. ?We?ve got to stop primary schools from having a day every week where parents are expected to dress up their children in some complicated outfit, or make something, or bring something in, or turn up to help with something or have an assembly,? she said.

I love this woman!!

How does houshold income factor in? I'm a SAHM daughter of a SAHM...we both have high-earning partners. You can see what I'm getting at .