Parenting choices and respect (childcare, diabetes, 5 year old, effect)
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They have looked at things like, health, attitudes, educational success, teen pregnancies, drug use, crime rates, to name a few.
I don't recall the research you posted in the past examining these issues. I haven't looked at it for a while.
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Originally Posted by Ivorytickler
......or maybe we'll find out that it's really due to some other characteristic that tends to travel with working status.
Or maybe we won't. I don't think you would be able to deal with that.
I am skeptical of most social agenda driven research no matter what it says. I find it easier to accept purely scientific research than that driven by a social agenda, no matter who is doing the driving.
I wonder if those who reject research on parenting choices also reject medical research for the same reasons?
Just for the record, I love social sciences research. I have conducted some, published some, and read it regularly within my field, as well as in areas pertinent to parenting. Suffice to say I find it a valuable tool for gathering information. However, it does have limits. Discussing conclusions without addressing those limits decreases its accuracy and its utility. I see you skipped over responding to posts questioning your interpretation of the research you cited.
All that being said, research is a tool for making informed decisions in my house, not a how-to manual. I find making life decisions solely based on studies that have a limited number of variables to be a little limited, as the average bear usually has variables to contend with that were not measured in the study du jour. In case I wasn't clear: I love social sciences research, I find it valuable and informative, within reason. It is not the be all and end all. It is more odd to me that someone would cherry-pick findings and then hang on like a dog with a bone than that someone would say they make family decisions based on the well-being (as measured by themselves) of their family.
Wow, Ivory. You just never stop with this BS. No wonder your DIL is feeling like she needs to defend her choice. You are not capable of hiding your disdain for SAHM.
The first study, conducted again by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, found that those who spend long hours in child care may experience more stress and are at increased risk of becoming overly aggressive (17 percent) and developing other behavior problems.
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The second study was smaller and was conducted by the Institute of Child Development of the University of Minnesota. It dealt only with children in daycare and found that in kids younger than three, levels of cortisol, a hormone associated with stress, rose in the afternoon during full days they spent in day care, but fell when they got home
Anxiously awaiting your predicted reply that increased cortisol levels in children are actually a good thing.
You should know better than anyone since you reject any research that doesn't support your opinion.
What research did I reject without explanation?
I do not care about snapshot studies because I'm concerned with long term issues. Life isn't short term. Yes, I'm aware that 3 yo's of SAHM's are more school ready than 3 yo's of WM's but I'm also aware this flips by the time kids start school and then the difference totally disappears by the end of first grade. So, yes, I dismiss data like this. It's interesting but really meaningless because it comes out in the wash. I think these studies are interesting but that's about it.
There are several differences measured at specific points in time, some favoring the children of WM and some favoring the children of SAHM's but they don't persist so they are not worth losing sleep over. The only ones that have been found to persist into adulthood favor the children of WM's. If you know of studies that are finding differences in our adult children due to maternal working status, please, by all means, post them. I'd love to read them. From what I've read, when all is said and done, it really doesn't matter if mom worked or not beyond the financial impact of the decision. While our daughters, as a group, do have higher self esteem, higher career goals and attainment and higher educatonal goals and attainment, that may have as much to do with genetics as the example their mothers set. The fact that sons of working moms see women as more equal to men is about the only thing I think you can, really, equate to working status but we don't know if that matters. While the difference is measurable, measureabld differences don't always result in noticable differences.
Please post the, longitudinal, research I've, supposedly, rejected that hasn't been debunked.
Last edited by Ivorytickler; 01-25-2012 at 11:27 AM..
I d0on't think most people are rejecting the research. Just your conclusions.
Not my conclusion. Several here have said that the research doesn't matter. I find that interesting because what the research really says is that SAH/WOH isn't a high impact decision beyond the financial impact. I would think that mothers would take comfort in knowing that, either way, we're not hurting our kids. I could see getting up in arms if the research said what YOU are doing is bad but it doesn't. It says that it really doesn't matter what we do as long as what we do doesn't impact SES.
Not my conclusion. Several here have said that the research doesn't matter. I find that interesting because what the research really says is that SAH/WOH isn't a high impact decision beyond the financial impact. I would think that mothers would take comfort in knowing that, either way, we're not hurting our kids. I could see getting up in arms if the research said what YOU are doing is bad but it doesn't. It says that it really doesn't matter what we do as long as what we do doesn't impact SES.
You have said dozens of times that "it doesn't matter" so why do you keep harping on it? If it doesn't matter, it doesn't matter. Why do you feel the need to defend yourself if it doesn't matter?
You talk out of both sides of your mouth. On one hand you say it doesn't matter, but on the other hand you claim your way is better because you raise your SES. We've all read it, and we've all said that we care more about what works for our families than what some statistics say, and working wouldn't change our SES anyway, so why are you so insistent on making your point? Repeating it a thousand times isn't going to change our minds.
Are you waiting for someone to say "You're right because the research says so"? It ain't gonna happen! some of us have feelings and emotions that are involved in raising our families. We look to those above some numbers on a page.
ETA I'm not even saying you are wrong. I don't actually think there is a hugely better outcome for kids who have SAHMs. What I take issue with is your reliance on statistics above all else, and that you ignore all unique situations, all emotion, all reason, and look ONLY at what the numbers say. My kids are not statistics. They are my kids. I like to think that when they think back about their childhood, they'll remember the few years I was home and all the fun we had. That can't be measured with your studies.
Bottom line, as you say, "it doesn't matter" so why not just stay home?
Last edited by Kibbiekat; 01-25-2012 at 12:07 PM..
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