Effect of maternal employment on children's home and emotional adjustment

ABSTRACT

An incidental cum purposive sample of 100 school students (age range 13 to 15 years) was selected to conduct the study showing the effect of maternal employment on their children’s home and emotional adjustment level. The important research tool used was HSAI. The findings on the whole indicate that the children of working mothers (CWMs) exhibit better home adjustment than the children of non-working mothers (CNWMs) and

there was no significant difference between the CWMs and CNWMs on the measure of emotional adjustment.

INTRODUCTION

An earning woman now has become the trend of the modern society. But in this patriarchal society where the man earns and the woman balances his earnings, this concept of working woman does not find much approval. It becomes more difficult when a woman is married and she becomes a mother. Being subjected to the dual demands of home and work, which are often antagonistic in nature, the working mother is liable to experience role conflict. This conflict, certainly, according to some psychologists, hamper the development of their children. According to Brossard , (1954), “The WMs physically exhausted after day’s work, cannot give proper attention to the demands of the children and hence they are maladjusted.”

These early views, however do not find any favour among the studies conducted by the modern psychologists. The research conducted by the author Dr.Moily Kuruvilla,(2005) summarizes, “The impact of the working mothers make children self-reliant.” According to Hoffman (1989), “The impact of well-being for children of employed mothers show that satisfaction with their combined role has a positive effect not only on mother’s relationships with their children but on the children’s adjustment and abilities as well.”

In the present study, attempts were made to explore the home and emotional adjustment of the children as influenced by maternal employment.

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