Dr David Pelcovitz Summary

In this journal article taken from the Orthodox Union, Dr. David Pelcovitz analyzes and interprets recent evidence linking working mothers to child development. Pelcovitz argues that children of mothers who worked full time when they were small infants had some negative developmental effects when they got older, including difficult behavior adjustments and lower cognitive abilities. However, he acknowledges that child development is impacted by a number of situational variables, including socioeconomic status and quality of childcare, which must be taken into consideration. Pelcovitz comes to the conclusion that, if given the choice, parents should consider working part-time during the beginning months of their child’s life. The data that Pelcovitz uses to support his argument was done by the National Institute of Child Health and Development in 1991. This purpose of the study was to gain insight on the correlation between the employment of mothers, experiences …show more content…
He believes that this is not only due to the mother’s amount of time spent at home with her children, but also the sensitivity that the mother is able to provide when working full-time, which could be attributed to greater financial stability. According to the study, mothers who were employed full-time had more of a tendency to provide higher-quality childcare and had greater chances of showing signs of depression. According to Pelcovitz, these “powerless parents” are susceptible to negative parenting practices that can impact child development. However, Pelcovitz does acknowledge that other studies have also concluded that early maternal employment has been shown to benefit children, mostly due to increased financial security and advantages regarding educational