Girls need role models. However, mums who stay at home only offer the role model of housemother to their daughters. Yet a working mum illustrates to her daughter that she can have both a career and a family. This type of influence early on and throughout life has shown to have a huge effect on what women believe they can achieve in their careers 1. If this is true then housemothers suggest to their daughters that employment is out of their reach, which will perhaps limit their future choices and hinder them from a satisfying work life. Indeed, daughters of employed mothers have been found to be more independent, particularly in interaction with their peers in a school setting, and to score higher on socio-emotional adjustment measures2, so perhaps with this in mind a working mother is a good influence on daughters.
Finally, as children get older and begin to have a career of their own it could perhaps be difficult for them to relate to their mothers who they have only seen in a domestic capacity, therefore working mothers have the advantage of being able to relate these experience with their children.
Boys also need the example of how to be good, supportive, attentive, responsible fathers who don’t abandon their families.