Growing Up in Scotland: patterns of maternal employment and barriers to paid work
This report uses data from the Growing Up in Scotland study to investigate the employment patterns of mothers during the first 5 years of their child's life.
Appendix B: Additional Tables
Table 8‑1: Reasons why mothers had not found paid work, by whether mother living with a partner and by child’s age (%)
| Single mothers Child’s age |
Partnered mothers Child’s age |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 months |
age 3 |
age 5 |
10 months |
age 3 |
age 5 |
|
| Base: All mothers in BC2 who had looked for work in the last four weeks. |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
| No suitable jobs available |
53 |
47(*) |
28 |
53 |
36(*) |
25 |
| Childcare (incl. availability and affordability) |
19* |
22 |
28 |
10* |
16 |
23 |
| Not looked very hard: family commitments |
12 |
10 |
20* |
9 |
13 |
10* |
| Not looked very hard: other reasons 1 |
15 |
20 |
11** |
20 |
20 |
26** |
| Other reasons 2 |
14 |
21 |
17 |
20 |
14 |
20 |
| Unweighted bases |
121 |
93 |
83 |
209 |
121 |
94 |
| Weighted bases |
137 |
134 |
125 |
216 |
136 |
110 |
1’Not looked very hard: other reasons’ included things like moving house, pregnant, going into education, only recently started looking, already found job, ill health.
2 ’Other reasons’ included lack of experience/qualifications, competitive job market, and no particular reason given (e.g. ‘Don’t know’).
* Significant differences between single and partnered mothers at p<.05 level.
(*) Borderline significant difference between single and partnered mothers.
Table 8‑2: Family type by partner’s employment status when child aged 10 months, by whether mother left or remained in/returned to work by time child aged 5
| Left work |
Remained in or returned to work |
|
|---|---|---|
| Base: All mothers in BC2 who worked during pregnancy and took part at all three sweeps of data collection and where information about partner’s employment status was provided at sweep 1. |
% |
% |
| Not living with a partner |
37 |
14 |
| Living with partner who is in paid work |
57 |
82 |
| Living with a partner who is not in paid work |
6 |
4 |
| Unweighted bases |
177 |
3059 |
| Weighted bases |
216 |
2801 |
Table 8‑3: Urban/rural location of when child aged 10 months, by whether mother left or remained in/returned to work by time child aged 5
| Left work |
Remained in or returned to work |
|
|---|---|---|
| Base: All mothers in BC2 who worked during pregnancy and took part at all three sweeps of data collection. |
% |
% |
| Large urban |
42 |
39 |
| Other urban |
29 |
29 |
| Small, accessible towns |
6 |
8 |
| Small remote towns |
4 |
4 |
| Accessible rural |
15 |
16 |
| Remote rural |
3 |
5 |
| Unweighted bases |
177 |
3061 |
| Weighted bases |
216 |
2804 |
Contact
Email: Ganka Mueller
Phone: 0300 244 4000 – Central Enquiry Unit
The Scottish Government
St Andrew's House
Regent Road
Edinburgh
EH1 3DG
There is a problem
Thanks for your feedback