Using data from the Labour Force Survey to model trends from 1981 to 1989, the paper examines developments in employment among women and men with children and compares them to employment trends among women and men without children. Employment increased faster among women with children than among women without, and grew faster among certain groups of mothers, in particular mothers with fewer and younger children, among white mothers and mothers living with employed partners, and among mothers with higher levels of qualification. Employment grew more slowly, or fell, among mothers with three or more children; mothers with no qualifications; black mothers; mothers with non-employed partners; and lone mothers. The paper also looks at parental employment within families and, in particular, the marked growth of dual earner families in the 1980s. The reasons and consequences for some of these trends are also considered.
