Factors influencing the labour force attachment of mothers with preschool-aged children

This paper investigates some of the factors influencing the labour force attachment of mothers with preschool‐aged children in intact families. The sample comprised 166 Sydney‐area families. The variables of interest included the mother's expectations about working at the time of her marriage, her educational level, four aspects of her socialisation experiences (i.e., whether traditional or non‐traditional interests and activities were encouraged during her childhood, closeness to mother and father during childhood and adolescence, and her own mother's work pattern), and family structure (i.e., number of children and age of youngest and oldest child). Considerable agreement was observed between the women's work attachment and their expectations about working at the time of their marriage. The interrelationships among education, socialisation experiences, family structure and work attachment were investigated using a series of multivariate analyses of variance and covariance. It was found that the set of variables representing socialisation experiences had a small, direct effect on work attachment; education had a direct effect, even after controlling for socialisation; and family structure exerted a strong direct effect over and above its relationships with education and socialisation experiences. The implications of these findings are discussed.