The kids suffer. When mothers start off with normal responsiveness and you combine that with high-quality childcare, you have a double advantage. In between, the adequate childcare most families have should be better but is not really a risk factor. The national studies find that the number of hours a mom works and the age at which a child enters daycare do not predict a kid's outcome. The outcome depends on a real interaction between the quality of childcare, the quality of parenting, the contentment of the parent with the work situation, the emotional and financial consequences of a woman not working, and the willingness of the dad or other significant people to share responsibility.
Parents have to be able to have parental leave, and they have to be paid for parental leave.
The maternity and nursing benefits that working mothers in the U.S. get are the least generous in the entire industrialized world. And our Family and Medical Leave Act only covers about 60 percent of workers and only provides up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave. That is less than the maternity leave offered by 80 percent of other countries. It's very important to have generous policies on paper, but it's the attitude of your immediate supervisor that makes the biggest difference. The research is overwhelming.