New research confirms that babies suffer no ill effects from their mothers going out to work

[HoleyGhost]

Good news for families without a SAHP

m.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jun/12/working-mothers-children-dont-suffer

Hurrah - wonder whether the Mail made it front page news? No, don't spoil it, I'm going to guess...

I've never taken a huge amount of notice of research; what matters is how our own children are faring, though of course this confirms what many of us already know: that having working parents isn't having a detrimental effect.

Not that it will stop the ridiculous threads on MN which try to hint darkly that being a WOHP isn't quite as good as being a SAHP!

That I felt reassured by this made me realise how seriously I had taken the inferences on here and in real life that staying at home is better for the baby.

I reckon that cherry pickers like Oliver James have a lot to answer for.

Just read the Guardian article, and clicked the link in it to the Daily Mail's article on the negative effects of working mothers. Right at the end, this is the part that was the nail in the coffin for me:

"Meanwhile, a U.S. study has found that growing up in a clean home can boost youngsters' exam grades and even the salaries they earn as adults.
The study of 3,400 volunteers over 25 years found that the length of time a child stayed in education and their future earnings was directly linked to the hygiene in their homes."

That's my child's education f*cked then!

And look, it's not been discussion of the day either... .

It's taken me a long while to realise that (duh) it's really dependent on individual family dynamics whether having no parent working in the home is good, bad or indifferent. I don't think MY mother working was great for me, because she buried herself in her work to mask the fact her marriage was failing and she had no community around her. I think if she had been home (well, she thinks if she had been home) that she would have had to make more of a community where we lived and she wouldn't have been able to tune out our suffering as she tuned out her own.

Of course it isn't discussion of the day - everyone who cares about it is at work! and working hard not mnetting

Working, we come from similar backgrounds and my mother would say the same. I don't think it is true though, her issues were bigger than that.

It is not just about individual family dynamics - it is about circumstances. The kind of work and childcare available, the commutes involved.

Everyone makes the best choices they can - this research takes away a stick that is used by the smug to insinuate that their choices are best for everyone.

edam - yes!

Ha ha MNHQ were watching, have made it discussion of the day.

I don't have the heart to read it tbh!

It is not so scary :)