Nursery World - Working mother study adds to 'guilt culture'

* An Essex University study that found children under five whose mothers worked did worse academically in later life than those whose mothers stayed at home is contributing to a 'culture of guilt', claims the the National Day Nurseries Association. The NDNA criticised news reports that said a child's prospects of gaining at least one A-level fell by as much as nine per cent for every year his mother worked before he started school. This conclusion was reached by measuring differences in achievement between siblings whose mothers worked during the childhood of one but not the other.

The NDNA criticised news reports that said a child's prospects of gaining at least one A-level fell by as much as nine per cent for every year his mother worked before he started school. This conclusion was reached by measuring differences in achievement between siblings whose mothers worked during the childhood of one but not the other.

NDNA chief executive Rosemary Murphy said, 'Working parents have enough to worry about. For the national press to seize on this and create a culture of guilt is not helpful. The study does, however, identify that high-quality nursery education has a significant positive impact on the educational development of children, but links this with high-earning parents.'

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