A Study on Stress Level of Children of Working and Non-Working Mothers

Since independence more and more women in our country are entering into different professions due to one or the other reasons. There is no harm in it, rather it provides economic security to the family, but on the other hand psychologists are raising their voice against it. They believe that absence of mother from home tends to affect negatively the personality development of a child. A strong and positive relationship with parents is a crucial part of child development and connection between parents and their children is a shielding factor against a number of psychological problems for children. Some researches have proved that working mothers are the role model of their children. The working mother’s children realize the significance of work in the early part of life. They recognize the worth of time which they spent with the parents more than sense of accountability and work ethic. The other studies have revealed that children of working mothers are less socialised with others, less psychological and emotionally matured and more violent. Previous studies have found that children with close connections to their parents had less stress level. The present study was conducted to study the stress level of children of working and non-working mothers. The sample of 100 children (50 each of working mothers and non-working mothers) selected randomly from all private schools of Lucknow District. Cohen et.al (1983) perceived stress scale used for the collection of data and t-test was used for the analysis of data. The results of the study reveal that children of working and non-working mothers are significantly different on stress level. Children of working mothers have higher stress level than children of non-working mothers. Boys of working women have more stress level than girls of working women.