News: Bye, Dear

The question is so old it's become a tired cliché: Can women have it all? But another fraught question lurks below: If mothers go to work—as most must—do children suffer? Studies seeking to answer this question tend to follow children for only a few years, but a new paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research tracks them all the way into high school.

Researchers analyzed data that followed 135,000 Danish children from birth through ninth grade and controlled for variables like the mother's education. They found that maternal employment had a positive effect on children's GPA in the first year of high school.

The authors suggest that working mothers may have better social support and mental well-being, factors that might positively affect their children's development and academic performance. —Lauren F. Friedman