Parental employment quality and the mental health and school performance of children and youth.

Abstract

Background: Lower-quality employment, characterised by excessive or part-time hours, irregular schedules and inadequate earnings, is a key social determinant of health among adults. Research examining parental employment quality in relation to the mental health and school performance of children is lacking. The study objective was to measure the associations between parental employment quality and child mental health symptoms and school performance.

Methods: We conducted a secondary analysis of the cross-sectional 2014 Ontario Child Health Study. Dependent variables were parent-reported child mental health symptoms and school performance. We used latent class analysis (LCA) to characterise employment status, hours, scheduling and earnings of parents. We used linear and multinomial regression to model the associations between parental employment quality, mental health symptoms, and school performance.

Results: Our study sample consisted of 9,927 children. The LCA of dual-parent households yielded three classes of parental employment quality, which we labelled 'Dual Parent, High Quality', 'Dual Parent, Primary Earner Model' and 'Dual Parent, Precarious'. The LCA of single-parent households yielded two further classes, which we labelled 'Single Parent, High Quality' and 'Single Parent, Precarious'. Compared with children in the 'Dual Parent, High Quality' group, children in all other groups had higher-level mental health symptoms and lower school performance. Children with 'precarious' parental employment in both groups showed the least favourable outcomes.

Conclusions: Lower-quality parental employment was associated with increased mental health symptoms and poorer school performance among children. A clearer understanding of these relationships and their underlying mechanisms can help inform relevant policies and interventions.