Maternal Employment and Overweight Children

55 Pages Posted: 27 Jan 2003

See all articles by Kristin F. Butcher

Kristin F. Butcher

Wellesley College; NBER

Patricia M. Anderson

Dartmouth College - Department of Economics; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Phillip B. Levine

Wellesley College; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: August 2002

Abstract

This paper seeks to determine whether a causal relationship exists between maternal employment and childhood overweight. We use matched mother/child data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth and employ econometric techniques to control for observable and unobservable differences across individuals and families that may influence both children's weight and their mothers' work patterns. Our results indicate that a child is more likely to be overweight if his/her mother worked more hours per week over the child's life. Analyses by subgroups show that it is higher socioeconomic status mothers whose work intensity is particularly deleterious for their children's overweight status.

Suggested Citation

Butcher, Kristin Frances and Anderson, Patricia M. and Levine, Phillip B., Maternal Employment and Overweight Children (August 2002). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=327060 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.327060

Kristin Frances Butcher (Contact Author)

Wellesley College ( email )

106 Central Street
Wellesley, MA 02181
United States
781-283-2179 (Phone)
781-283-2177 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://web.wellesley.edu/web/Acad/Economics

NBER ( email )

1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

HOME PAGE: http://www.nber.org/people/kristin_butcher

Patricia M. Anderson

Dartmouth College - Department of Economics ( email )

Hanover, NH 03755
United States
603-646-2532 (Phone)
603-646-2122 (Fax)

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

Phillip B. Levine

Wellesley College ( email )

106 Central Street
Wellesley, MA 02181
United States
781-283-2162 (Phone)
781-283-2177 (Fax)

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
190
Abstract Views
7,956
Rank
202,986
PlumX Metrics