I love it when my job intersects with the rest of my life.
NPR is reporting Tuesday about a fascinating survey that found that women who work full time "reported significantly better physical and mental health than moms who part time." They heard from more than 2,500 mothers in the 2012 survey.
Oh, and mothers who worked part time said they enjoyed better health than their counterparts who didn't work at all.
Really? As the mother of two children who worked part time for several years before taking this job, I was all-in on this story. Could I really be enjoying peak health while working full time and -- yes -- still raising those kids. (Disclosure that my husband does help: Thanks, dear!)
NPR pointed out that one explanation could be self-selection. From the story:
Mothers who were in better health to begin with may have chosen to work regularly. Researchers Adrianne Frech and Sarah Damaske, who conducted the 2012 study, also found that moms who worked steadily had other advantages. They were more likely to have grown up with two married parents, more likely to have completed high school and more likely to be in a stable relationship before the birth of their first child.
Those last three items are true for me.