Children whose parents hold insecure, low-wage jobs face significantly higher rates of mental health difficulties and lower academic performance
Approximately one in five Canadians will be diagnosed with some form of mental illness by age 25, according to current estimates, and rates of mood and anxiety disorders among children are climbing. Canadian researchers have now zeroed in on a factor that has largely flown under the radar: the quality of parents' jobs.
Dr. Faraz Vahid Shahidi, an Associate Scientist at the Institute for Work & Health (IWH) and Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto's Dalla Lana School of Public Health, presented findings at an IWH Speaker Series webinar on June 23, 2026, showing that children in households marked by precarious parental employment faced measurably worse mental health and academic outcomes than their peers. The research was conducted in collaboration with Dr. Anne Fuller, a pediatrician and clinical investigator at McMaster University.
Not just whether parents work, but how they work
Policy conversations about parental employment have historically focused on whether parents are working, rather than the quality of that work.
"We think it's not just whether parents are working, but what manner, what type, what quality of work is available to a parent," Dr. Shahidi said. "That's going to matter from the perspective of the child's experiences and their mental health and development."
The team assessed employment quality across five dimensions: employment status, hours of work, scheduling, earnings, and job stability. Using latent class analysis across two large Canadian datasets, they identified distinct profiles of parental employment and examined how those profiles associated with child outcomes.
The first study drew on the 2014 Ontario Child Health Study (OCHS), a cross-sectional survey of nearly 11,000 children aged 4 to 17. The second used the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY), following children from 1994 to 2008 and tracking outcomes from early childhood into adolescence.
Three profiles, a clear gradient
Among dual-parent households, three distinct profiles emerged. The high-quality group held stable, full-time jobs with predictable daytime schedules and above-average earnings. The primary earner profile, roughly 25 per cent of dual-parent households, saw fathers working excessive hours for high pay while mothers held unstable, part-time, low-wage positions. The precarious group, about 10 per cent of dual-parent households and nearly half of single-parent households, reported unstable jobs, part-time hours, unpredictable schedules, and very low earnings.
The mental health data followed a clear gradient. Children in precarious dual-parent households reported approximately five additional mental health symptoms compared to those in high-quality households, using a 52-item parent-reported scale. Children in the primary earner profile fell in between.
Academic performance tracked the same pattern. Children in precarious dual-parent households were 2.5 times more likely to earn C grades or lower rather than A grades; those in single-parent precarious households were 1.9 times more likely.
Long-term emotional consequences
The longitudinal data pointed to lasting effects. Children who grew up in primary earner households were approximately 80 per cent more likely to develop emotional problems in adolescence compared to peers in high-quality employment households. For those exposed to precarious parental employment throughout childhood, the figure rose to 90 per cent.
No significant association was found between parental employment quality and behavioural problems. Dr. Shahidi suggested this may reflect the NLSCY's narrow behavioural measure, which captured only physical aggression rather than a broader range of conduct difficulties. Understanding how workplace stress ripples into family life is increasingly central to occupational health research in Canada.
Policy implications for safety leaders
Dr. Shahidi was direct about the takeaway: quality of employment, not simply having a job, should be the policy target. "Improving the quality of jobs, the quality of employment in Canada could yield some important benefits not only for workers, but for their children as well," he said.
For occupational health and safety professionals, the research is a reminder that wellness programmes and employee assistance plans address symptoms rather than causes. Upstream factors, specifically job security, stable hours, and adequate earnings, may carry consequences that downstream mental health programming alone cannot offset.
The research carries notable limitations. The NLSCY data were collected through 2008, predating the rise of gig work and the shift to remote and flexible arrangements that have reshaped the Canadian labour market. The studies also did not control for housing stability, a potential source of residual confounding. These evidence gaps reflect broader challenges in workplace mental health research, where the relationship between employment conditions and health outcomes rarely runs in a single direction.
Both studies are published and freely available online. The IWH Speaker Series resumes in September 2026 with a session on mental health, remote work, and workplace support.
