Peer-reviewed article
Parental employment quality and the mental health and school performance of children and youth.
Fuller AE, Shahidi FV, Comeau J, Wang L, Wahi G et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examined how the quality of parents' employment affects children's mental health and school performance using data from 9,927 Canadian children. The research found that children whose parents had lower-quality employment—characterized by irregular schedules, insufficient hours, or inadequate pay—experienced more mental health symptoms and performed worse in school. Children with parents in precarious employment situations faced the most serious challenges. The findings suggest that parental employment conditions are an important factor influencing child well-being.
Key points
- Children in all lower-quality parental employment groups had higher mental health symptoms compared to those in 'Dual Parent, High Quality' employment
- Lower-quality parental employment was associated with poorer school performance among children
- Children with precarious parental employment in both single and dual-parent households showed the least favourable outcomes
- Five distinct classes of parental employment quality were identified: three for dual-parent and two for single-parent households
- The study used latent class analysis to characterize employment status, hours, scheduling and earnings
Limitations
This is a cross-sectional study, so it cannot establish causation between parental employment quality and child outcomes. The study is based on Ontario data and may not reflect patterns in other regions or countries.
Abstract
Background Lower-quality employment, characterised by excessive or part-time hours, irregular schedules and inadequate earnings, is a key social determinant of health among adults. Research examining parental employment quality in relation to the mental health and school performance of children is lacking. The study objective was to measure the associations between parental employment quality and child mental health symptoms and school performance. Methods We conducted a secondary analysis of the cross-sectional 2014 Ontario Child Health Study. Dependent variables were parent-reported child mental health symptoms and school performance. We used latent class analysis (LCA) to characterise employment status, hours, scheduling and earnings of parents. We used linear and multinomial regression to model the associations between parental employment quality, mental health symptoms, and school performance. Results Our study sample consisted of 9,927 children. The LCA of dual-parent households yielded three classes of parental employment quality, which we labelled 'Dual Parent, High Quality', 'Dual Parent, Primary Earner Model' and 'Dual Parent, Precarious'. The LCA of single-parent households yielded two further classes, which we labelled 'Single Parent, High Quality' and 'Single Parent, Precarious'. Compared with children in the 'Dual Parent, High Quality' group, children in all other groups had higher-level mental health symptoms and lower school performance. Children with 'precarious' parental employment in both groups showed the least favourable outcomes. Conclusions Lower-quality parental employment was associated with increased mental health symptoms and poorer school performance among children. A clearer understanding of these relationships and their underlying mechanisms can help inform relevant policies and interventions.