Stability and Change in Children's Home Environments : The Effects of Parental Occupational Experiences and Family Conditions / Elizabeth G. Menaghan and Toby L. Parcel.

This study examined the effects of mothers' and fathers' occupational conditions on children's home environments, and of change in occupational and family conditions on change in home environments. The study used the 1986 and 1988 supplements to the National Longitudinal Surveys of Youth. Subjects were 781 married mothers with children aged 3 through 6 years in 1986. For mothers in dual-earner families, home environment was affected by mothers': (1) self-esteem and sense of mastery; (2) age (for older mothers); (3) work at a complex occupation; (4) marriage to a highly educated spouse; (5) having fewer children. Improvements over time in children's home environment were affected by spouse's occupational characteristics and age (for spouses who were younger). Declines in home environments occurred when additional children were born or the marriage ended. For mothers in male-earner families who were not employed in 1986, predictors of home environments were similar to those for mothers in families with two earners, with the exception that mothers' cognitive resources and spouses' wage level also had positive effects. Improvements in home environment in this group were also responsive to spouse's working conditions and changes in family circumstances. A list of references is included. (Author/BC)

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