Abstract
One of the most remarkable sociocultural changes since World War II is the steady and substantial rise of women joining the labor force. With nearly 68% of married mothers with school-age children working outside of the home (Hayghe, 1986), maternal employment has clearly become a modal aspect of life in American families. The movement of mothers into the labor market constituted a departure from those behaviors that have been long considered to be inherent in the feminine sex role (Smith, 1979). As such, employed mothers crossed the boundaries drawn by shared societal expectations for appropriate behavior in women. It is this tension between cultural expectations for mothers and their actual choices over the last several decades that has stimulated much speculation and research about the lives of children whose mothers are employed.
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Galambos, N.L., Petersen, A.C., Lenerz, K. (1988). Maternal Employment and Sex Typing in Early Adolescence. In: Gottfried, A.E., Gottfried, A.W. (eds) Maternal Employment and Children’s Development. Springer Studies in Work and Industry. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-0830-8_6
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