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Title: The Impact of Occupational and Economic Pressures on Young Mothers' Self-Esteem: Evidence from the NLSY
Resulting in 1 citation.
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Menaghan, Elizabeth G. |
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The Impact of Occupational and Economic Pressures on Young Mothers' Self-Esteem: Evidence from the NLSY Presented: Washington, DC, Annual Meetings of the Society for the Sociological Study of Social Problems, 1990 Cohort(s): NLSY79 Publisher: Sociological Abstracts Keyword(s): Family Resources; Maternal Employment; Self-Esteem Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher. This paper investigates the role that early esteem plays in shaping current circumstances, and the extent to which social circumstances alter self-esteem over time. Data are from the NLSY 1979-1987 and the 1986 Child-Mother Supplement. Controlling for characteristics of the mothers' families of origin and their own early cognitive skills, six years later, mothers with initially low levels of self-esteem had completed fewer years of education, although they had not begun childbearing at a earlier age nor had more children to care for. Early self-esteem also shaped later marital and occupational circumstances: by 1986, women with lower self-esteem were employed in less complex, more poorly paid jobs. As a result, these mothers were experiencing economic insecurity and less satisfying occupational conditions. These conditions shaped later self-esteem: more poorly paid and less complex work, low spousal earnings, and larger family size all contributed to deterioration in self-esteem relative to initial levels. Stated positively, initial levels of esteem increased the likelihood that women would attain more advantaged social positions, and those positions in turn further bolstered mothers' self-confidence. While the personal resources that mothers bring to young adulthood help to propel them onto a trajectory that produces widening differences in young adulthood, such selection effects are relatively weak. The later occupational and family conditions young women experience play a significant role in bolstering or undermining prior levels of self-esteem. |
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Bibliography Citation
Menaghan, Elizabeth G. "The Impact of Occupational and Economic Pressures on Young Mothers' Self-Esteem: Evidence from the NLSY." Presented: Washington, DC, Annual Meetings of the Society for the Sociological Study of Social Problems, 1990. |