Working Parents

In rich countries few mothers worked outside the house in 1900, except for the very poorest.¹ Today the majority do (see Figure 11.1). In most advanced countries this is the biggest single social change of the last century. No longer do most women give birth to large numbers of children, most of whom die. Instead they have careers and earn money. But what does this do to their children? There is no more contentious subject of debate in cafés or around the dinner table. But the weight of evidence from ALSPAC is that, other things held constant (including income), mother’s