In a recent article in The Conversation, Leah Ruppanner, Francisco Perales and Janeen Baxter wrote about having a second child.
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These researchers used the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey which collected data from around 20,000 Australians over a period of 16 years.
We know that the birth of a first child has a huge impact on the lives of parents. Their daily life changes. Many families chose to have one of the parents (usually the mother but increasingly not always) stay home for some time (a few months, perhaps a year). Sometimes that parent choses not to return to work at all.
Australians generally tend to believe that the bulk of child care work should be performed by mothers and often male and female roles become more traditional once children are born, and mothers and fathers act out their gendered roles.
The choice to have a second child is often perceived as a normal expectation, and parents may feel that adding one more child to their family is not going to make much difference, certainly not in comparison to the major changes they made in their lives to have their first child. They may believe that, having had one child, they have learned the necessary skills (nappy changing, dealing with a crying baby, how to manage meeting friends for coffee with a rambunctious toddler) to cope quite well with another.
... the research reports that having a second child is not necessarily as easy as many parents think.
However the research reports that having a second child is not necessarily as easy as many parents think.
After the birth of their first child, parents all report increasing pressures on their time, certainly something we all expect to happen. Generally mothers report greater increases than time pressure than fathers.
Following the birth of a second child both parents report a doubling of time pressure and this effect was evident in both working parents and stay-at-home parents. This time pressure did not disappear as children grew older (and hopefully less dependent on their parents).
The researchers also investigated mental health. They found that following the birth of their first child, the mental health of mothers actually improves.
However, after the birth of the second child, mothers' mental health declines and remains low. This is probably because the time pressures experienced by mothers increase with the birth of the second child.
Fathers also demonstrate a small improvement in mental health at the birth of their first child and a decline in mental health following the birth of the second child. However, over time fathers' mental health stabilises, suggesting that fathers do not experience the same chronic time pressure as mothers over the long-term.
There is evidence that chronic stress associated with increased time pressures has an impact on physical health. This suggests it is really important for mothers to think about how to share their child caring responsibilities to reduce the pressure on them.
This is where extended family and formal non-parental child care options need to be considered. Sharing responsibility for child care is one way we can ensure mothers remain healthy and do not experience the mental and physical health risks associated with chronic feelings of time pressure.
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