From spreadsheets to storybooks: how mothers’ occupational skills shape activities with children

Objective: This study examines how mothers’ occupational skills influence their parenting practices during early childhood. Background: Parental employment is widely recognized as a key dimension of family background, yet little is known about how the skill content of parents’ jobs may shape parenting behaviors. Drawing on theories of occupational spillover and self-efficacy, we assess whether specific occupational skills are associated with variation in parenting activities during early childhood. Method: We use data from the UK Millennium Cohort Study (MCS), a nationally representative longitudinal survey of children born in 2000–2002, linked to occupation-specific skill profiles derived from the British Skills Surveys. Parenting behaviors were measured when children were ages 5 (n = 12,892) and 7 (n = 11,265), capturing the frequency of seven cognitively and recreationally oriented activities. Occupational skills include literacy, verbal, numeracy, problem-solving, and physical competencies. We estimate multivariable regression models adjusting for a rich set of socioeconomic and demographic covariates. Results: Literacy and verbal skills are consistently associated with cognitively enriching activities, particularly reading and storytelling. Physical skills predict greater engagement in outdoor and drawing or craft activities. In contrast, numeracy and problem-solving skills show limited or inconsistent associations. Conclusion: Mothers’ occupational skills shape parenting in distinct and domain-specific ways, supporting theories of value transmission and self-efficacy. Implications: These findings suggest that employment-based skills may influence the home learning environment independently of education and income, with implications for policy and early childhood inequality.