• Journal of the Korean Home Economics Association
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• v.49 no.5
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• pp.49-57
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• 2011

This study explored the effects of parenting efficacy and parental role satisfaction on the life-satisfaction of employed and unemployed mothers. The 527 mothers(234 employed, and 277 unemployed), with a child under 7 years old, were selected for this study. The results were as follows. First, employment had significant correlations with several factors, including the number of children, family income, educational level of parents, parent-child relations, preparedness for parental role conflict, and life-satisfaction. Second, for employed mothers, life-satisfaction had positive relationships with various factors, including family income, fathers' educational level, parenting efficacy, and parental role satisfaction; whereas, that of unemployed mothers had positive relationships with parenting efficacy, and parental role satisfaction. Third, for employed mothers, life-satisfaction was affected by several factors, such as family income, parental role satisfaction, parent-child relations, and preparedness for parental role conflict; however, unemployed mothers were affected by the number of children, the fathers' educational level, and self-confidence relating to the parental role, general satisfaction, and preparedness for parental role conflict.

• Journal of Families and Better Life
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.111-122
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• 2009

The relations of mothers' attitudes regarding maternal employment to mothers' psychological well-being, mothers' parenting sensitivity and children's social competence were examined for mothers who worked full-time (extensively) from age 6 months of their children on, mothers who were not employed, and mothers who worked part-time or inconsistently during their children's early years. Longitudinal observations of 1,034 mothers and children in the NICHD Study of Early Child Care from age one month to first grade were analyzed using structural equation models. As predicted, mothers and children benefited when maternal attitudes were consistent with mother's actual employment status. Among extensively employed mothers, those with positive attitudes about employment had better psychological well-being; among mothers who were not employed, those who believed that maternal employment would have negative consequences for children's development reported better psychological well-being. The findings suggested that whether the mother's status of employment is congruent with their beliefs, not whether the mother is working or not, predicted the mother's well-being and their child's social development.

• Women's Health Nursing
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.5-35
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• 1998

This study attempted to determine the relation between the maternal role strain and their husbands' support in employed and nonemployed first-time mothers, and how it changed over time. A descriptive, longitudinal and comparative study design was conducted to collect and analyzed the data at three times(at 3-4days, at 4-6wks and at 3-month postpartum) regarding the change of maternal role strain and their husbands' support in employed and nonemployed first-time mothers. The subjects were 133 first-time mothers who delivered vaginally at K university hospital in Deagu, Korea from Dec., 1994 to Oct., 1995. Among these 58 were employed and 75 were nonemployed first-time mothers. This instruments used to data collection in this study were by Hobbs(1968 : The Difficulty Index for First-time Parents), Staffensmeier(1982: Transition Difficulty Measure), Tayer(1976: Emotional Support from Husband), Lee, Hae Kyoung(1992 : Physical Support from Husband). The analysis of data was done with SAS/PC program which included percentage, $x^2$-test, Pearson correlation, Repeated Measure ANOVA, Time Contrast Analysis and t-test. The results were as follows : 1. There was a significant negative correlation only at 3-4days(r=-.19, P=.0265) and at 4-6wks postpartum(r=-.18, P=.0392) between maternal role strain and husband's support of the first-time mothers. Thus, the more support from husband, the less maternal role strains the first-time mothers felt. Therefore, the 1st hypothesis that "the more husband's support the first-time mother felt at all the time of testing, the less maternal role strains they got" was partially supported at 3-days and 4-6 weeks postpartum. There was no correlation between maternal role strain and t husband's support of the employed first-time mothers at al testing times(at 3-4days postpartum : r=-.95, P=.9548, at 4-6wks postpartum : r=-.0960, P=.4733 and at 3-month postpartum : r=-.05, P=7306). On the contrary, the unemployed first-time mothers felt less maternal role strain when they received more support from their husband at 3-4 days postpartum(r=-.31, P=.0073) and at 4-6wks postpartum(r=-.23, P=.0490). 2. There was no difference of maternal role strain between two groups with regards to employment status(F=.97, P=.3270). But the maternal role strains of two groups were changed differently each other over time(F=3.89, P=.00234). Therefore, the 2nd hypothesis that "there was the difference in the maternal role strains with regard to employment status and over time" was rejected. 3. There was no difference in husband's support between the employed and the nonemployed first-time mothers(F=3.06, P=.0826). But there was a significant interaction between employment status and over time(F=3.64, P=.0267), so the support from husband of the employed and the unemployed first-time mothers was changed differently each other over time. The support from husband of the employed first-time mothers was lowered significantly and continuously at 4-6wks (F=5.20, P=.0263) and at 3-month postpartum(F=6.47, P=.0137) than at 3-4 days postpartum. On the contrary, there was no difference in change of husband's support of the employed first-time mothers between the 3-4 days and the 4-6wks postpartum(F=1.70, P=.1962) and between the 3-4 days and the 3-month postpartum(F=.21, P=.6513). Mean husband's support of the nonemployed first-time mothers was raised at 4-6wks postpartum than at 3-4 days postpartum but lowed at 3-month postpartum. The support form husband of both groups was tending downwards at 3-month postpartum than at 4-6wks postpartum, but the one between two groups was changed differently each other over time. The husband's support of the employed first-time mothers(M${\pm}$SD=64. 26${\pm}$8.63) was higher than the one of the nonemployed first-time mothers(M${\pm}$SD=59.16${\pm}$11.11) (t=-2.98, P=.0035), so the 3rd hypothesis that "there was the difference in the husband's support with regard to employment status and over time" was supported. On the basis of these conclusions, the following suggestion is proposed. This study examined the change and relationship between maternal role strain and husband's support in the employed and the nonemployed first-time mothers. So the further study regarding the comparison between the employed and the nonemployed multiparas is necessary.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.498-506
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• 2010

The purpose of this study is to determine the stress and the dietary habits of elementary school children and assess the associations with mother's employment status. The subjects were 423 students of 5th and 6th grade students (210 boys and 213 girls) in Seoul and Gyeonggi-Do. Two hundred fifty-two mothers had some kinds of job and 171 mothers were housewives. The students had stress the most from their studies/schoolwork (M = 2.37), while the least from "teacher/school" (M=1.51). The average stress score of the subjects was 1.76. The average score of dietary habits was 3.43. More specifically, the statement "not skipping breakfast" had the highest score (M = 4.04) and the statement "not substituting cereals, breads or drink milk for any meal" had the lowest score. Students with employed mothers had higher stress level than students with unemployed mothers. Students with employed mothers who have blue color job showed the lower dietary habits score than those with employed mothers who had other types of job. Students of employed mothers who go to school at dawn showed the lowest dietary habits score. In both employed and unemployed mothers, the stress score of students negatively correlated with the score of dietary habits. It was important for the mother to be at home when the students go to school and return. Based on this study, mothers should be aware of the stress level of their children get depending on their employment status. They should also provide their children to have good dietary habits and nutritional education regularly.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.22 no.3 s.27
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• pp.389-397
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• 1989

To identify the problems in child rearing practice of employed mothers in urban poor area, all of 201 women with children under 6 years old living in Yun San 3 Dong, a poor area of Pusan city, were interviewed with a questionnaire by a trained interviewer from 10th April to 10th May 1989. Among 201 women, 51 women were employed and 150 women were unemployed. Of the employed mothers 78.5% got their jobs because of economical need and 31.4% of them worker for 60-69 hours per week. Their average monthly income was 100,000-190,000 Won in 33.4% and 200,000-290,000 Won in 25.4% Breast milk was fed in 66.0% of the children of unemployed mothers while 49.0 of the children of the employed mothers were breast-fed (p<0.05). The most common reason for not breast feeding was shortage of breast milk among unemployed mothers (58.9%) but that of the employed mothers was their job(63.6%). The basic immunization for children was completed in 70.5% of children of employed mothers as compared with 82.0% of the children of the unemployed mothers were completely immunized (p>0.1). Accident experience rate of children among the employed mothers was 23.5 a and that of the children of the unemployed mothers was 17.3% . The most common cause of acident in children of the unemployed mothers was carelessness while they were playing(34.6%) but in children of the employed mothers it was traffic accident(25.0%) and falling(25.0%). Most of the traffic accidents took place while the children's brother or sister of age under 14 years were baby sitting. When the accident took place 73.1% of the unemployed mothers were just at home, but 58.3% of the employed mothers were out of home for work. In case of the employed mothers, 58.7% of their children were looked after by an adult mainly grandparents, 15.7% by the children's brothers and sisters under 14 years old, and 3.9% of the children were left alone. A majority of the unemployed mothers wanted to get a job if someone could take care of their children. To facilitate the women employment and for the safety and health of the children, good nurseries for working mothers need to be established at a cost they can afford.

• Korean Journal of Child Studies
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• v.37 no.6
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• pp.95-106
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• 2016

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of authentic parental competence and awareness of early childhood educational community on the life satisfaction of mothers with preschoolers depending on mothers' employment status. Methods: A total of 238 mothers (98 employed, 130 unemployed) whose children were attending early childhood institutes participated in a survey measuring three variables. Results and Conclusion: The findings of the study were as follows: First, there were positive correlations between authentic parental competence, awareness of early childhood educational community, and life satisfaction, regardless of employment status. Second, comparing employed mothers with unemployed mothers, a common variable affecting life satisfaction was social competence, a sub-variable of authentic parental competence. Further, self-system competence, a sub-factor of authentic parental competence, influenced life satisfaction for employed mothers, and sharing core values, a sub-variable of awareness of the early childhood educational community, influenced life satisfaction for unemployed mothers.

• Human Ecology Research
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• v.54 no.6
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• pp.621-629
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• 2016

This study investigated the moderating effects of marital fondness and admiration as well as the father's involvement in child rearing on the association between parenting stress and marital satisfaction for a comparison of unemployed and employed mothers. The subjects were 159 unemployed mothers and 103 employed mothers with children under 3 years of age. The major findings of this study were as follows. First, unemployed mothers who had a lower level of marital fondness and admiration were dissatisfied with their marriage when they had higher parenting stress. Marital fondness and admiration are necessary for unemployed mothers in their transition period to parents. Especially, it is important for fathers to understand challenging conditions and encourage and support the spouse. However, there was no moderating effect of the father's involvement in child rearing in the association between parenting stress and marital satisfaction. Second, employed mothers who had a lower level of father's involvement in child rearing were dissatisfied with their marriage when they had higher parenting stress. The father's involvement in child rearing is necessary for employed mothers in their transition period to parents. Furthermore, it is important to implement policies at the national level to support childcare hours for balanced work and life. However, there was no moderating effect of marital fondness and admiration for the association between parenting stress and marital satisfaction.

• Journal of Families and Better Life
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.1-24
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• 2013

The purpose of this study was to understand the lived experiences of grandmothers who provide child care services to their grandchildren and employed mothers who utilize child care by grandmothers, with regards to their relationships while exchanging the specific type of intergenerational support. The data for this study came from 42 in-depth, individual interviews with 21 pairs of employed mothers who had at least one child younger than elementary-school age and their mothers or mothers-in-law who had provided child care on a daily basis for their grandchildren. Our phenomenological analysis revealed that the grandmothers felt uncomfortable and overwhelmed when caring for their grandchildren and that they considered this activity to be different from caring for their own children by nature. However, the grandmothers wanted to help their adult children based on their feeling of "boo-mo-ma-eum" (meaning parental heart, i.e., love or care). The employed mothers perceived that they were substantially dependent on the grandmothers by receiving help with child care and housework. Reliance on grandmothers was inevitable and beneficial to these mothers. Dynamic intergenerational living arrangements enabled the dependent relationships. The grandmothers set specific boundaries pertaining to current and future child care so that they would not take on too much responsibility for child care. The mothers used various strategies that contributed to stable child care support from the grandmothers. Providing financial remuneration was an important strategy that had symbolic relational meanings, such as expressing gratitude, rather than financial meanings.

• Korean Journal of Childcare and Education
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.63-79
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• 2015

This study explored the effect of mother's employment status on family environment and physical environment and psychological environment, the main concern of this which factors have effects on marital satisfactions of either employed or non-employed mothers. First, the result of analysis on family environment according to mothers' employment status shows non-employed mother's parental stress is higher than employed mother's. Besides, non-employed mother's self-esteem is lower than employed mother's, and non-employed mother's depression is significantly high. Concerning fathers' factors, the level of conflict between husband and wife is higher among husbands when their wives are employed. In the light of childrens' factors, non-employed mothers consider that their children display more negative emotion and more picky. Children's development of employed mothers is included in normal development range more than that of non-employed mothers. Second, conflict between husbands and wives have an significantly negative effect on marital satisfaction regardless wife's employment status. Husbands' cooperation in child-rearing and marital satisfaction have a positive effect on wives' marital satisfaction. The significant factor which influences on employed mother's marital satisfaction is education level of wives. This study would be meaningful in that infancy home environment was compared focusing on the mothers' employment status, and some factors which factors(variables) have impacts on marital satisfaction of infancy mothers were examined.

• Journal of Family Relations
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.87-109
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• 2017

Objectives: While employed mothers' use of maternity and parental leave has increased, the contexts that facilitate or hinder mothers' leave policy use have been under examined. The purpose of this study was to explore mothers' experiences of using maternity and parental leave. Method: Twenty-two mothers with young child under age three participated in this study. Results: All 22 mothers used maternity leave and 12 mothers used parental leave. Three main themes were identified: different experiences of maternity leave, experiences of parental leave, and skepticism about the leave policy but with some hope that it will improve. Regarding the mothers' experiences of maternity leave, the mothers thought that maternity leave was easily accessible but some mothers still felt guilty for using maternity leave. They also prepared for their work gap before the leave to avoid harming their colleagues. Accessibility to parental leave varied according to the characteristics of the organizations (i.e., family-friendly organization culture, supportive supervisor) and family contexts (i.e., availability of child care from family members, financial issues). The mothers perceived that while parental leave helps working mothers coordinate their family and work life, it is not as accessible as maternity leave in Korea. They suggested extending the maternity leave duration and improving accessibility to parental leave. Conclusions: These findings suggest that policy support is warranted to help employed mothers with young children remain in the workforce. This study also has implications for supporting employed mothers' work and family life.