Should mothers go out to work? Can mothers afford to go out to work? The real question is: Can mothers of reproductive age afford not to go out to work?
It is important to tie some loose ends that appeared in recent contributions on this subject. The opportunity cost of maternity of the younger generations cannot be compared to that of their mothers and grandmothers.
Today’s mothers and in particular, those in childbearing years, are, on average, much more educated than previous generations and they are all interested to benefit from this investment by seeking formal employment and progression on the job ladder.
This is not only because of individualisation of financial security, which is sadly becoming a dominant motive in our lives, but also as a measure to strengthen the functional raison d’être of mothers within the family.
Women’s financial independence brings about the possibility for transition of aspirations and therefore, more and more young mothers seek to develop interests outside the traditional family-work pattern. Statistics show that Maltese mothers and fathers want to have more than the current average of just 1.4 children per family.
The most recent budgetary measure to extend maternity leave in a gradual manner from 14 weeks to 18 weeks by year 2013 is therefore significant in many ways. This well calibrated work-family balance measure could potentially influence future reproductive considerations of the Maltese couples, leading to a higher number of children per family, as so many want.
Work-family balance measures often have higher impact on the realised number of children per couple than measures based mainly on financial support to families. Examples of this can be found in Scandinavian countries, the Netherlands and France in contrast to the experience of Germany, where family policies lack work-family provisions (Salles, 2010).
The extension of maternity leave, combined with other accrued leave entitlements by both parents, offers an opportunity to bring up a child up to the age of six months on a full-time basis. This age is considered suitable for some form of institutional, formal childcare to kick in.
Short maternity leave imposes a strong negative stimulus, often causing mothers to opt out from the labour force altogether. On the other hand, too long maternity leave could act as a deterrent from returning to the labour market, with long-lasting consequences, such as slower vertical progression at the place of work and lower accrued pension rights of these mothers later on in life.
Sigle-Rushton and Waldfogel (2007) estimate that, in the UK, working mothers with two children over the age of 25 would have 58 per cent less cumulative earnings compared to their counterparts without children. This is a staggering finding with immense social consequences.
Another important question duly presents itself in this context: Would a six-month-old baby experience any negative consequences later on in life if entrusted into childcare at that age?
The wealth of longitudinal, panel data collected for the OECD member countries indicates that the negative effects of mothers returning to work within six months after birth on the child’s development are small and, in some instances, are effectively neutralised by the positive effects that resulted from earning a second, usually mother’s, income (OECD, 2011).
Going even deeper into this subject, Huerta (2011) indicates that maternal employment after infancy shows a weak positive association with children’s cognitive scores and the relationship is even stronger if the mother’s engagement outside home is on a part-time basis.
More importantly than the mother’s employment, children’s cognitive and behavioural outcomes highly depend on other variables, such as formal childcare participation and having stimulating parental activities.
Paid maternity leave followed by employment helps alleviate families’ exposure to the economic hardship. The loss of the second earner’s income due to the birth of a child has a particularly significant impact on families with very young children. Even more, the sudden loss of income is most strongly felt in the first year after birth. Husbands and fathers too must recognise at least the benefit of this not happening.
In order to make it possible for mothers to rejoin the labour market and make the 2012 Budget measure work, it is important to avoid a possible inactivity trap brought about by unaffordable childcare services. It is essential that the price of childcare is not prohibitive for families with low household income.
The ability of rejoining the labour force after enjoying paid maternity leave gives a chance to women to close the social security contributions gender gap and to build their own career patterns and pensionable rights similar to those of men.
This is an important guarantee for their well-being and security in old age. Women, as we all know, tend to live longer lives and only in this way can their old age security be ascertained at the time when their own offspring would themselves have sought ways how to balance their work-family life.
Dr Miljanic Brinkworth lectures on demography at the University of Malta.