The Effect of Maternal Employment on Children's Academic Performance

Using a Danish data set that follows 135,000 Danish children from birth through 9th grade, this study examines the effect of maternal employment during a child's first three and first 15 years on that child's grade point average in 9th grade.

The authors of this study find that maternal employment has a positive effect on children's academic performance in all specifications, particularly when women work part-time. This is in contrast with the larger literature on maternal employment, much of which takes place in other contexts, and which finds no or a small negative effect of maternal employment on children's cognitive development and academic performance.