The effects of working mothers on adolescents

Abstract

This dissertation is a comparative study of secondary school adolescents, with working and non-working mothers. The intention was to study the effect of working mothers on children's achievement and aspirations. The sample consists of 200 boys and 200 girls extracted from Forms 2 and 4 of 4 Junior Lyceums in Malta. All subjects were asked to fill in a questionnaire, dealing with parents' occupations, encouragement in homework and school achievement, students' aspirations and time spent in communication with parents. The study concentrated more on the students' achievement and aspirations, in relation with the mother's role and other factors. Further investigation was carried out by collecting results of Annual Exams, that is June 1991, in Mathematics, English and Maltese. Results reveal that Form 2 girls and Form 4 boys whose mother is gainfully employed achieve better than adolescents having a non-working mother. As regards future aspirations, boys having a non-working mother have strongly objected at having a working wife/mother.