Maternal Employment And Child Behaviour: A Case Of Children In Remand Home

Abstract

Over the past 25 years, the employment rate of mothers with young children has increased drastically. As mothers engage in economic activities, the time spent with children diminishes and this may have social and psychological effect on the children. Using the data obtained from the Boys\' Remand Home and Girls\' Remand Home in Lagos, this paper examines the impact of mothers\' employment on the behaviour of these children. It also examines, among other things, the type of family the children belong to, their mothers\' level of education, how they were initiated into bad behaviour and the number of years spent in the home. Results show that the proportion of males who are involved in bad behaviour is greater than that of females. Most of the children are from monogamous home. Maternal education has a significant impact on child\'s behaviour. Most of the mothers engage in economic activities. Mothers\' occupation affects time spent with children. More than three-quarter of the children claim that their mothers do not devote enough time for them. Some of the behaviours the children engage in include stealing, quarreling, being stubborn and associating with bad friends. Mothers\' occupation has a significant impact on child\'s behaviour. Neighbours, friends and foreign movies also exercise some influence on child\'s behaviour. More than half of the children, however, are of the view that if their mothers had spent much time with them, they would not have engaged in bad behaviour.

Keywords: Maternal characteristics; Child\'s behaviour; Remand home; Influence; Monogamy; Polygyny

Gender and Behaviour Vol. 6 (1) 2008: pp. 1633-1644