Work-Family Conflict, Enrichment, and Adolescent Academic Adjustment in Dual-Earner Family

There is ample evidence that work-family conflict (WFC) and work-family enrichment (WFE), respectively, have detrimental and beneficial impacts on the functioning of couples, families, and children. In this study, cross-sectional data from 2,136 dual-earner families in China, including parents and their children (51.2% girls, ages: 11.6–19.3 years), were used together with Actor-Partner Interdependence Model-Structural Equation Modeling (APIM-SEM) to test the hypothesis that work-family spillover can impact academic adjustment in adolescents through parental educational expectations and perceived educational expectations. The results of this analysis suggested that academic adjustment among adolescents is primarily influenced by maternal work-family experiences, such that maternal but not paternal WFC can impact academic adjustment in adolescents through parental educational expectations and perceived educational expectations. Maternal WFE was found to be indirectly associated with the academic adjustment in adolescents as a result of actual and perceived educational expectations. Additionally, we observed a significant effect of maternal WFC on the educational expectations of fathers within couple-relationship dyads. These results underscore the importance of the work-family interface as a factor that shapes the overall family health and associated outcomes, especially the importance of maternal work-family experiences in this context. Interventions that aim to promote more positive maternal work environments are thus likely to yield greater benefits for their children and families. Overall, these data indicate that work-family spillover is a core determinant of adolescent development, which warrants further study.

Vitamin E deficiency and associated factors among Brazilian school children

Objective: Brazilian national data show a significant deficiency in pediatric vitamin E consumption, but there are very few studies evaluating laboratory-proven nutritional deficiency. The present study aimed to settle the prevalence of vitamin E deficiency (VED) and factors associated among school-aged children attended at a primary health unit in Ribeirão Preto (SP). Methods: A cross-sectional study that included 94 children between 6 and 11 years old. All subjects were submitted to vitamin E status analysis. To investigate the presence of factors associated with VED, socioeconomic and anthropometric evaluation, determination of serum hemoglobin and zinc levels, and parasitological stool exam were performed. The associations were performed using Fisher's exact test. Results: VED (α-tocopherol concentrations <7 μmol/L) was observed in seven subjects (7.4%). None of them had zinc deficiency. Of the total of children, three (3.2%) were malnourished, 12 (12.7%) were anemic, and 11 (13.5%) presented some pathogenic intestinal parasite. These possible risk factors, in addition to maternal-work, maternal educational level, and monthly income, were not associated with VED. Conclusions: The prevalence of VED among school-aged children attended at a primary health unit was low. Zinc deficiency, malnutrition, anemia, pathogenic intestinal parasite, maternal-work, maternal educational level, and monthly income were not a risk factor for VED.

‘Working for/from Home’: An Interdisciplinary Understanding of Mothers in India

Situated in the context of the coronavirus pandemic, this paper begins by looking at the recent advertisement by Amul praising mothers who are ‘working from home’ and ‘working for home’ during the lockdown, with an accompanying cartoon visualizing the iconic Amul girl sitting beside her mother who is working on her laptop while keeping an eye on her daughter; in a juxtaposed cartoon, the mother is cooking in the kitchen while simultaneously scrolling through her smartphone. Amongst my groups of women friends, the advertisement elicited strong and contradictory responses: ranging from approval of the appreciation for maternal work to disapproval at the missing father. In order to critique this advertisement, I would use the lens of Motherhood Studies, an emerging area of scholarship that is inherently interdisciplinary. Reading the advertisement as a cultural text, I will attempt to locate the maternal stereotypes embedded in it: the merging of the stay-at-home mother and the working-mother into the ideal neoliberal mother-worker, the supermom who effortlessly balances work and home, even in extraordinary times like the pandemic and lockdown. These entangled maternal stereotypes have been reified in popular consciousness through mythic, religious, literary and filmic artefacts. A cross-disciplinary tracing of the stereotypes will reveal the motherhood constructs and the cultural expectations that mothers encounter, and also attempt to explain why and how these constructs and expectations operate. The paper will look at the possibilities of resistance to these stereotypes, germinating in feminist, or posthuman, or matricentric approaches to motherhood. I will use the critical distinction between motherhood-as-ideology and mothering-as-agency to understand maternal resistances, some of which may be located in the responses to the Amul advertisement. The paper will conclude by assessing the emergence of Motherhood Studies as a legitimate field of interdisciplinary humanities and/or social sciences.

Structural legacies and the motherhood penalty: How past societal contexts shape mothers’ employment outcomes in reunified Germany

Motherhood penalties vary strongly across societal contexts. While most studies that aim to explain such differences focus on institutions, a smaller literature refers to the influence of cultural norms or a complex interaction between the two. Empirically, however, it is yet unclear if such norms play a role and how they—jointly with institutions—contribute to motherhood penalties. We make use of a unique historical setting that allows us to assess how societal contexts affect maternal work preferences and labor market outcomes in the short- and long-run. Germany’s division into socialist East and parliamentary democratic West led to considerably different gender norms. But German reunification in 1990 mostly realigned gendered institutions. Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP), we show that East and West German mothers’ preferred and realized labor force participation and working hours nevertheless remain divergent. We then focus on East German women who moved to the West during and after the country’s transitionary period. Despite moving to a context with more conservative gender norms, East German mothers in the West retain and fulfill their work preferences. Our findings imply that it is the structural legacy of past norms and institutions, not current ones, that shapes maternal work preferences and thus pave the way for motherhood penalties. Moreover, societal norms at the time of childbirth do not directly affect mothers’ labor force participation, working hours, or wages. Gendered outcomes in the labor market are thus highly dependent on institutional and normative changes across cohorts.

Karakteristik Ibu dan Pola Asuh Praktek Pemberian Makan Pada Anak Usia Bawah Dua Tahun

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between the characteristics of respondents to the practice of feeding under two years old children in the work area of Puskesmas Binamu Kec. Binamu, Kab. Jeneponto. This research is a cross-sectional study with simple random sampling technique. The sample was mothers who have children under the age of two years, totaling 136 mothers. Data was collected through direct interviews with respondents. Hypothesis testing is done using the Chi Square statistical test, with α 0.05 and coefficient φ (phi). The results of the study are known to the characteristics of maternal education (p = 0.030) and family income (p = 0.002) associated with feeding practices in children under the age of two years. Meanwhile there was no correlation between maternal work (p = 0.514) and the number of family members (p = 0.692) to the practice of providing food for under-two-year-old children. It is recommended to increase counseling about correct feeding practices for children, especially on the amount and frequency of food provided, besides that nutritional information is provided not only to mothers but also to people around mothers.

Hubungan Lingkungan Pengasuhan dan Pekerjaan Ibu terhadap Perkembangan Bayi 6-12 Bulan

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between the caregiving environment and mother's work on infant development. The design of this study was cross sectional. The results of the study were obtained by the majority of good care environment as much as 39.7%, mothers did not work as much as 60.9%, and babies experienced normal development as much as 52.3%. Chi square test results of the relationship between the caregiving environment for infant development obtained p value <0.005, that is <0,000 the relationship between maternal work and infant development obtained p value <0.005, 0.003. Conclusion, there is a relationship between the care environment and mother's work on the development of the baby. Keywords: Caregiving Environment, Mother's Work, Development