A study carried out in the USA has suggested that children benefit from their mothers working part-time or at home rather than full-time in the first year of their life.

The Columbia University research, which tracked more than 1,000 children from birth to age seven, looked at the impact on young infants whose mother worked long hours. Those whose mothers resumed full-time work before the youngster turned one were found to perform worse in ability tests – a disadvantage that persisted into primary school.

Children's prospects were significantly improved if mothers worked part-time – up to 30 hours a week – during the first year instead.

'Our results point to some clear advantages for children whose mothers worked part-time rather than full-time in the first year of their life,' the research said.

“The weight of the evidence suggests that having a mother who works part-time in the first year does lead to better outcomes, on average, than having a mother who works full-time in the first year,” it added.

But the 'harm' caused to the children was found to be cancelled out by the benefits of being employed, such as higher earnings, which meant that working mothers could afford good quality childcare.