Mothers and fathers with young children: Paid employment, caring and wellbeing

Abstract

The paper examines how the use of child care, the time parents spend with children, and parental well being relate to parental employment. The analysis is based on Wave 1 of the Longitudinal Survey of Australian Children (LSAC) confidentialised unit record file. Four themes are addressed in the report: the labour force status and job characteristics of parents with young children; patterns of use of child care and how they vary according to parental employment status; the impact of parental employment on parenting and time spent with children; the relationship between parental employment status and the wellbeing of parents.