Caregiving for Children with Disabilities: Effects on Parental Employment and Mental Health

Previous research demonstrates that caregiving for children with disabilities affects parental employment (Porterfield 2002; Powers 2003) and mental health (Keller and Honig 2004; Sloper and Turner 1993). Specifically, mothers are more likely than fathers to be the primary caregivers of children with disabilities, which results in lower levels of employment and higher levels of psychological distress (Cuskelly, Pulman and Hayes 1998; Kagan et al. 1998; Leiter et al. 2004; Lewis et al. 2000; Lukemeyer et al. 2000). My research adds to the existing literature on families and disabilities by using multilevel, longitudinal data from the 2001 panel of the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) (U.S. Census Bureau 2005). I examine the effects of a child's disability on employment and psychological distress to gain a better understanding of how parents balance work and family when their children may have extraordinary caregiving needs.;I begin by extending an economic model of family life to focus more specially on racial differences in employment among mothers of children with disabilities. The multilevel growth models suggest that maternal employment is affected by a child's disability and that this varies by race. African American mothers of children with disabilities have the highest initial hours of paid employment, but decrease at a steeper rate over time, controlling for education and family income. The presence of younger children reduces employment for all mothers with a greater effect for mothers of children with disabilities. However, having older children (e.g., teenagers) also reduces employment for mothers of children with disabilities, but does not have the same effect for mothers of typical children. Thus, the presence of a child with disabilities in a household has a negative and prolonged effect on maternal employment.;Next, I use a life course development perspective and estimate a series of dyadic multilevel growth models that compare the employment trajectories of parents of children with disabilities and parents of typical children. The findings suggest that the gap in initial hours worked is larger between parents of children with disabilities, showing that gender moderates the initial hours of employment, but does not affect employment over time. Racial effects for mothers are insignificant or only minimally significant when fathers are added to the analysis. The only significant racial difference in paternal employment occurs with white fathers of children with disabilities, who see a reduction in employment over time especially if their child has more severe disabilities.;The last analysis is guided by Pearlin et al.'s (1990) stress process model and examines whether parents of children with disabilities have higher levels of psychological distress and if this relationship is mediated by employment. The findings from the multilevel models suggest that a child's disability significantly affects parental levels of psychological distress, with mothers of children with disabilities having the highest rates of psychological distress. The only significant racial difference in psychological distress for mothers of children with disabilities occurs as the severity of the child's disability increases. Specifically, nonwhite mothers of children with disabilities have higher rates of psychological distress compared to white mothers of children with disabilities when controlling for the severity of the child's disability. Employment reduces psychological distress in all parents (i.e., role enhancement) while quitting a job or reducing hours due to caregiving demands (i.e., role strain) also reduces psychological distress in mothers with a greater reduction for mothers of children with disabilities. I conclude by suggesting that being employed may not be the most important factor to consider, but rather that job quality is. Mothers may have more of their identities invested in caregiving; thus, when employment is incompatible with caregiving, their psychological distress increases.