Parental Principal Economic Status

The economic status of the parent is a vital characteristic at all stages of their child’s

life, but especially the early years - before the child starts school - when families face

a choice of one parent staying at home or availing of a childcare provider. The

parent’s employment status, occupation, how many hours they work and blended

work status all impact the family’s income as well as the amount of time the parent

may spend with the child. In order to design supports for parents of young children, it

is crucial to understand what typical employment and hours look like for this group

and how that affects their child’s outcomes. This is useful to capture not only for

between-group analysis within cohorts, but also for cross-cohort analysis to view

how these dynamics have changed over time. As changes may have occurred

between waves, it is necessary to repeat questions on economic status and

employment for both parents (where applicable).

The main sub-topics/measures that could be continued from Cohort 24 at age 9

months are (a) an item asking about the parent’s principal economic status and

questions on the details of their current or most recent job; (b) an item capturing

information about whether the parent has any blended working arrangements; and

topic/measure that could be repeated from Cohort 08 at age 3 is an item that asks

the parent their reason for not working.

Recommendations for Cohort 24 at age 3:

•Repeat items on parent’s principal economic status and questions on their job details from Cohort 24 at age 9 months.

•Repeat individual item on blended work from Cohort 24 at age 9 months.

•Repeat item on spouse/partner occupation from Cohort 24 at age 9 months.

•Repeat item on reason for not working from Cohort 08 at age 3.

Use of leave