Children positive about happy working mothers

Working parents who are strongly committed to their jobs are perceived positively by their children, according to a University of Queensland study.

For her PhD in psychology, Dr Poppy Liossis surveyed 108 Brisbane working couples and their young children to determine how dual working households functioned as families.

She looked at working hours, time spent with children, factors influencing commitment to work and parenting, and children's perceptions of their parents - and found some surprising results.

'We assume as adults that children don't like their mothers being engaged in full-time work, but as a researcher I felt it was important to ask children what they thought,' said Dr Liossis, who is a lecturer in the Queensland University of Technology School of Social Science.

'Generally children perceived mothers more positively than fathers, and yet again mothers who were highly committed to their work. These results may be because mothers are around more or maybe working mothers who are committed to their work are happier and that contentment with their working life spills over into family life.

'Children can be very perceptive and they may be picking up on those happy feelings.'

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