Graduates 'better mothers'

University graduate mothers devote more time to their children than less educated women, even though most work longer hours.

A new Australian study overturns the myth that children miss out when their mothers are devoted to their careers, The Australian has reported.

Research from the Social Policy Research Centre at the University of NSW found most families where both parents were university-educated spent "well over an hour a day more caring for their children than parents with no qualifications".

Care by fathers also increased with their level of education - by up to an hour extra a day compared with men with no post-school qualifications, although educated wives did most of the physical care.

Mothers with qualifications beyond high school spent an average 20 to 40 minutes more each day on tasks like bathing, feeding and changing nappies, compared with women with a high school education only. They also spent more time each day on "developmental activities", such as reading, playing and talking with their children.

A story in The Australian on the study is at this web page.