A 24-item scale was developed to measure Beliefs about the Consequences of Maternal Employment for Children (BACMEC), including beliefs about both benefits (1 3 items) and costs (1 1 items). Studies of five samples ( n = 3 7 5 ) demonstrate that the total BACMEC scale and its subscales are highly reliable and have good convergent, divergent, and concurrent validity. Scores on the Costs Subscale predicted greater sex-role traditionalism, women's employment status (not employed), and an older age of child at which mother's employment was deemed acceptable. Benefits scores predicted women's employment status (employed) and work hours (longer), younger age of child when maternal work is acceptable, and greater support for policies to aid working parents. The scales were not susceptible to a social desirability bias. Suggestions are provided for the use of the BACMEC scale in future research concerning ernployment and families.The substantial increase in women's labor force participation over the past few decades is now a familiar social phenomenon. The most dramatic change in women's labor force activity has occurred among married women with children in the home. Sixty percent of married mothers with school-age children were in the labor force in March 1984, compared with 40% in 1970 (Hayghe, 1984). Furthermore, it is no longer the case that

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