Mothers’ Work Patterns, Contribution to School Activities and Children’s Cognitive Development: Evidence from the India Human Development Survey

Feinian Chen, University of Maryland
Kriti Vikram, University of Maryland
Sonalde B. Desai, University of Maryland

Using data from the India Human Development Survey (IHDS) of 2004-5), we investigate the link between maternal employment, their contributions to children’s school activities and children’s cognitive development. Two main contributions of this paper include the development of a work pattern typology that goes beyond standard measures of employment and the use of rich survey data that contain both direct assessment of child outcomes and parental inputs into child rearing. We find that the diverse work patterns of mothers have implications for both their involvement with school activities and their children’s cognitive development. We also document mothers’ school involvement as an important pathway that links maternal employment and children’s learning outcomes.