France and the United Kingdom represent two contrasting institutional models for the integration of employment and motherhood, respectively the 'universalistic' regime type that offers subsidized child-care and maternity-leave benefits to women at all income levels, and the 'means-testing'...

Previous studies have found that adverse effects of maternal employment on child obesity are limited to mothers with higher education and earnings. Explanations for this have centered on differences between the childhood nutritional and exercise environments provided by non-parental caregivers...