The Work-Child Nexus: Parental Employment Sectors and Influence on Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE)

Abstract

Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) significantly influences child development, affecting cognitive, emotional, social, and physical growth. The quality of ECEE depends on socio-economic status, parental education, resources, community support, and cultural norms. The study explores how parents’ employment in organized or unorganized sectors affects children’s physical, language, cognitive, and socio-emotional development, focusing on ECCE. A sample of 466 children enrolled in Anganwadi centers was divided into two groups: organized (n = 227) and unorganized (n = 239) parental employment. The cognitive, physical, and socioemotional scale assessed ECCE outcomes. Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics, ANOVA, and t-tests. Children of organized sector parents (306.79 ± 47.64) scored significantly higher in ECCE than those of unorganized sector parents (p < .05). Similar patterns emerged for gender and urban areas, while rural children showed no significant differences (p > .05). Policies should address disparities and support vulnerable families’ ECCE access.

Keywords

Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE)organized sector unorganized sector parent’s involvement working sector

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Almani

A. S.

Abro

Mugheri

R. A.

(2012). Study of the effects of working mothers on the development of children in Pakistan. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 2(11), 164–171.

Amadi

F. N. C.

(2013). Challenges of early childhood care education in sustaining girl-child development in Nigeria. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 4(5), 151–158. https://doi.org/10.5901/mjss.2013.v4n5p151

Baum

C. L.

II . (2003). Does early maternal employment harm child development? An analysis of the potential benefits of leave taking. Journal of Labor Economics, 21(2), 409–448. https://doi.org/10.1086/345563

Brooks-Gunn

Han

W.-J.

Waldfogel

(2002). Maternal employment and child cognitive outcomes in the first three years of life: The NICHD study of early child care. National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Child Development, 73(4), 1052–1072. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8624.00457

Brown

J. E.

Bittman

Nicholson

J. M.

(2007). Time or money: The impact of parental employment on time that 4 to 5 year olds spend in language building activities. Australian Journal of Labour Economics, 10(3), 149–165. https://doi.org/10.3316/informit.193031303257983

Cusworth

(2007). The impact of parental employment and unemployment on children and young people [Doctoral dissertation, University of Nottingham]. https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/id/eprint/10317

Dunifon

Hansen

A. T.

Nicholson

Nielsen

L. P.

(2013). The effect of maternal employment on children’s academic performance (Working Paper No. 19364). National Bureau of Economic Research. https://doi.org/10.3386/w19364

Francavilla

Claudia Giannelli

(2010). The relation between child work and the employment of mothers in India. International Journal of Manpower, 31(2), 232–257. https://doi.org/10.1108/01437721011042287

Ghosh

(2023). Does the early childhood education and care in India contribute to children's skill development? Children & Society, 38(2), 611–635. https://doi.org/10.1111/chso.12739

10.

Heinrich

C. J.

(2014). Parents’ employment and children’s wellbeing. Future of Children, 24(1), 121–146. https://www-jstor-org.web.bisu.edu.cn/stable/23723386

11.

Heymann

S. J.

Earle

(2000). Low-income parents: How do working conditions affect their opportunity to help school-age children at risk? American Educational Research Journal, 37(4), 833–848. https://doi.org/10.3102/00028312037004833

12.

James-Burdumy

(2005). The effect of maternal labor force participation on child development. Journal of Labor Economics, 23(1), 177–211. https://doi.org/10.1086/425437

13.

Kantova

(2024). Parental involvement and education outcomes of their children. Applied Economics, 56(48), 5683–5698. https://doi.org/10.1080/00036846.2024.2314569

14.

Kapur

Sethy

P. K.

(2014). Working and living conditions of workers in unorganized sector: A review of literature. Online International Interdisciplinary Research Journal, 6(2), 197–204. http://www.oiirj.org/oiirj/mar-apr2014

15.

Kopp

Lindauer

Garthus-Niegel

(2024). Association between maternal employment and the child’s mental health: A systematic review with meta-analysis. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 33, 3025–3042. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-023-02164-1

16.

Kühhirt

Klein

(2017). Early maternal employment and children’s vocabulary and inductive reasoning ability: A dynamic approach. Child Development, 89(2), e91–e106. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12796

17.

Maundeni

(2013). Early childhood care and education in Botswana: A necessity that is accessible to few children. Creative Education, 04, 54–59. https://doi.org/10.4236/ce.2013.47a1008

18.

Mawere

V. H.

Thomas

K. A.

Nyaruwata

L. T.

(2015). An evaluation of parental involvement in ECD programme: A case study of primary schools in Kuwadzana suburb in Zimbabwe. Global Journal of Advanced Research, 2(10), 1545–1556.

19.

Mbugua

T. J.

(2004). Early childhood care and education in Kenya. Childhood Education, 80(4), 191–197. https://doi.org/10.1080/00094056.2004.10522230

20.

Murray

(Ed.). (2017). Building knowledge in early childhood education: Young children are researchers (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315676012

21.

Nguyen

H.-L.

(2024). Children's cognitive development: Does parental wage employment matter? Children and Youth Services Review, 161, 107657. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2024.107657

22.

Pandey

Fathima

(2024). Impact of national curricular and pedagogical framework for early childhood care and education in India. International Journal of Science and Research, 13(4), 1393–1397. https://doi.org/10.21275/sr24320135050

23.

Rahaman

S. M.

Mondal

Chattopadhyay

K. N.

(2024). A comprehensive overview of early childhood care and education: Policies and schemes. Research Review International Journal of Multidisciplinary, 9(2), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.31305/rrijm.2024.v09.n02.001

24.

Rahmatullah

Muhamad Rawai

Mohamad Samuri

Md Yassin

(2021). Overview of early childhood care and education in Malaysia. Hungarian Educational Research Journal, 11(4), 396–412. https://doi.org/10.1556/063.2021.00074

25.

Rao

Ranganathan

Kaur

Mukhopadhayay

(2021). Fostering equitable access to quality preschool education in India: Challenges and opportunities. International Journal of Child Care and Education Policy, 15, 9. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40723-021-00086-6

26.

Reetu

Renu

Adarsh

(2017). Quality early childhood care and education in India: Initiatives, practice, challenges and enablers. Pacific Early Childhood Education Research Association, 11(1), 41–67. https://doi.org/10.17206/apjrece.2017.11.1.41

27.

Rhodes

Huston

(2012). Building the workforce our youngest children deserve. Social Policy Report, 26(1), 1–32. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2379-3988.2012.tb00070.x

28.

Ruhm

C. J.

(2004). Parental employment and child cognitive development. Journal of Human Resources, 39(1), 155–192. https://doi.org/10.2307/3559009

29.

Sharma

S. S.

Magnum

Kaul

(2019). Quality and diversity in early childhood education: A view from Andhra Pradesh, Assam and Rajasthan (Executive summary). Centre for Early Childhood Education and Development.

30.

Waldfogel

Han

W.-J.

Brooks-Gunn

(2002). The effects of early maternal employment on child cognitive development. Demography, 39(2), 369–392. https://doi.org/10.1353/dem.2002.0021

31.

Warnasuriya

Sosale

Dey

(2020). Integrating early childhood care and education in Sri Lanka: From global evidence to national action. World Bank Publications. https://doi.org/10.1596/978-1-4648-1618-5

32.

Youn

M. J.

Leon

Lee

K. J.

(2012). The influence of maternal employment on children's learning growth and the role of parental involvement. Early Child Development and Care, 182(9), 1227–1246. https://doi.org/10.1080/03004430.2011.604944