Photo: AlessandroBiascioli | Shutterstock
You can have a career and raise a successful child.
By Nicole Weaver — Last updated on Aug 25, 2023
There's plenty of perks and downfalls of being a working mom. You're bound to miss out on moments of your kids' lives, teachers are judgmental when you can't leave work on a whim for something that isn't an emergency, and you constantly try to find balance between your work life and your personal one.
But now, science is giving working moms a pat on the back for getting up and heading to work after getting the kids ready every day. As it turns out, they're churning out awesome kids.
Working moms raise the most successful kids, according to research.
According to a paper published by Harvard Business School, working mothers are 4.5 percent more likely to have daughters who will be employed.
What else did they find out about the children of working moms? Not only are the daughters of working mothers more likely to be employed, but they're also more likely to hold supervisory positions and earn more money than the daughters of women who don’t work outside the home.
How are sons affected? The researchers also found a statistically significant effect on the sons of working women, who are more likely to spend time with family members and do household chores than the sons of stay-at-home mothers. It sounds like they're raising little feminists.
According to the study, 33 percent of working mothers have daughters holding supervisory positions compared to 25 percent of stay-at-home moms' daughters. They also earn more than daughters of stay-at-home mothers.
"We did expect that it would affect employment, but we didn't expect that it would affect supervisory responsibility," Professor Kathleen McGinn tells Quartz.
McGinn also says that the income of daughters of working mothers in the US was $5,200 higher than that of daughters of women who stayed at home when they tried to adjust the study and control for gender attitudes.
Harvard had come to this conclusion after analyzing data from 24 countries by the International Social Survey Programme between 2002 and 2012.
"What I take away is that employed mothers create an environment in which their children's attitudes on what is appropriate for girls to do and what is appropriate for boys to do is affected," McGinn says.
What is the message here for working mothers? It's that being employed has long-lasting, positive effects on children. “When you go to work, you are helping your children understand that there are lots of opportunities for them,” McGinn says.
So, let go of that guilt, working moms. You're raising your kids exceptionally well, and they wouldn't be this way if it weren't for you.
More for You:
Nicole Weaver is a senior writer for Showbiz Cheat Sheet whose work has been featured in New York Magazine, Teen Vogue, and more.