Today, the Taub Center is releasing two new studies on early childhood:
Employment Characteristics of Parents of Children in Early Childhood
Today, the Taub Center is publishing two new studies on early childhood that examine the employment characteristics of parents of young children and the relationship between the employment of mothers and their children’s later achievements on the Meitzav exams in Grades 5 and 8. The research on the employment of parents of young children in Israel is particularly important in light of Israel’s high rates of fertility and employment among mothers relative to other OECD countries. The studies, which were carried out with the generous support of the Beracha Foundation, the Bernard van Leer Foundation, and Yad Hanadiv, were written by Noam Zontag who was a researcher at the Taub Center at the time of writing (and is currently a researcher in the Bank of Israel Research Department). The studies are based on a unique and comprehensive dataset prepared by the Central Bureau of Statistics for the Taub Center Initiative on Early Childhood Development and Equality headed by Prof. Yossi Shavit.
The first study: Employment Characteristics of Parents of Children in Early Childhood
The first study looks at employment patterns among parents of children aged birth to 6 by quarters since birth and focuses on the return of mothers to the work force following maternity leave.
“Mothers with a low socioeconomic status — who in many cases have low earning power — are, in particular, faced with the dilemma of whether to return to work to help finance their families or to stay at home to raise their children, thereby saving the high costs of sending them to early childhood education and care frameworks,” says Zontag. As expected, the study found that the rate of employment among mothers drops after giving birth as a result of maternity leave, however, the pace at which mothers return to the work force varies across different segments of the population:
- Mothers with higher levels of education return to work sooner after giving birth than those with less education – The rates of employment in the fourth quarter after giving birth among mothers who are university graduates are close to their rates prior to giving birth.
- For both Jews and Arabs, the employment of fathers is not significantly affected by the birth. In contrast to women (whose employment rates drop), there does not appear to be any change in the employment of men during the quarters following the birth.
- The variation in rate of employment according to the number of children in the household – that of parents with one or two children. This is true for both Jewish and Arab mothers and also for Jewish fathers. However, among Arab fathers no differences were observed in the rate of employment prior to the birth and after it.
- The higher the salary is prior to the birth, the greater is the likelihood of working after it – Parents who earn a high salary prior to their child’s birth have a greater tendency to work following it than do parents who earn a lower salary. It was also found that the level of education is positively correlated with the rate of employment following the birth, primarily among mothers, and in particular among Arab mothers.
The second study: Employment of Mothers of Children in Early Childhood and Their Children’s Later Achievements on Meitzav Exams
The study looks at the complex relationship between the employment of mothers with young children and the academic achievements of their children on the Meitzav exams in Grades 5 and 8. The study’s findings indicate that while the employment of mothers with children aged one year or older does not lower the success of their children on the Meitzav exam and in some studies it is even positively correlated with their achievements, the employment of mothers of children up to the age of one may have a negative effect on their success on the Meitzav exams. The influence of a mother’s employment is related to their level of education. The study found that children up to the age of one of mothers with lower education levels were affected less by their mother’s employment. This is because for these children, attending early childhood education and care frameworks compensates for the loss of stimulation they could receive at home. In contrast, the contribution of the interaction time with a more highly educated mother seems to outweigh the contribution available in educational frameworks as they exist today, and, therefore, the mother’s more rapid return to work tends to have a negative effect on their children.
“The study’s findings emphasize the value of high-quality, devoted, and loving care during the early years of life. In view of the current policy to encourage the employment of mothers in Israel, it is worth considering policy measures that will support that goal. These measures can include — apart from employment incentives per se (a negative income tax, tax credit points for working parents, etc.) — government investment in quality early education and care frameworks for ages that are not currently budgeted (birth to three years) and investment in upgrading the quality of existing education and care frameworks. This investment will support not only the employment of mothers but may also contribute to the development of their children, and, as shown in many studies, will improve their children’s later academic achievements in school and their future success in the labor market,” according to Zontag.
Prof. Yossi Shavit, the head of the Taub Center Initiative on Early Childhood Development and Equality, commented that: “Early childhood policy in Israel has for many years been focused on the contribution of daycare centers and kindergartens to the employment of mothers. And indeed, the rate of employment among mothers in Israel, as well as the rate at which children attend early childhood education frameworks, is very high. The current study shows that the return of mothers to work soon after giving birth may harm the cognitive development of their children, which is related to the low quality of many existing early education and care frameworks. Urgent efforts are needed in order to improve the quality of these frameworks, primarily through accelerating the process of training daycare assistants and child care givers. It is also recommended that maternity leave be extended in order to allow interested mothers to focus on childrearing, which is so important at this critical age.”
Taub Center President, Prof. Avi Weiss, adds: “An additional message from the two research studies regards the importance of the involvement of fathers in caring for their young children in those earliest years of life. Increasing this involvement will allow children to receive the parental support needed to succeed later in life, while at the same time allowing mothers to continue with their careers and help in the financial support of the family.”
The Taub Center for Social Policy Studies in Israel is an independent, non-partisan socioeconomic research institute. The Center provides decision makers and the public with research and findings on some of the most critical issues facing Israel in the areas of education, health, welfare, labor markets and economic policy in order to impact the decision-making process in Israel and to advance the well-being of all Israelis.