fullscreen

eFinder

eFinder

Home › Article

Mom’s job linked to child’s odds of having autism spectrum disorder

Nypost · · 668 words · By McKenzie Beard
headphones Listen to the eFinder podcast briefing
Generate a natural audio summary of this story
Daily briefing

What to know about Mom’s job linked to child’s odds of having autism spectrum disorder

Mom’s job linked to child’s odds of having autism spectrum disorder Some jobs may come with more than just a paycheck.

Claims checked 11
Techniques found 0
Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage
Left0%
Center83%
Right17%

6 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Mom’s job linked to child’s odds of having autism spectrum disorder Some jobs may come with more than just a paycheck.

Why it matters

A new study suggests that a mother’s line of work before, during and after pregnancy could influence her baby’s brain development.

Common ground

In certain careers, researchers found, she may even be more likely to have a child with autism, a developmental disorder that affects how people communicate, behave and interact with others.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://nypost.com/2026/05/13/health/moms-job-may-be-linked-to-childs-odds-of-ha…

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 11 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 4
info Single Source 3
help Insufficient Evidence 2
verified Verified 1
schedule Pending 1
info
Claim 1: “About 70% of both groups were boys, and nearly half were born in the 1990s.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The provided evidence consists of dictionary definitions for the word 'mentioned' and does not contain the demographic data of the study participants.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — to cite formally for a meritorious act or achievement: He was mentioned in dispatches from the war zone. Idioms not to mention, in addition to; without mentioning: We were served a sumptuous entree, n…
https://www.wordreference.com/definition/mentioned
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — To speak or write about, especially briefly or incidentally: I mentioned your idea during the conversation. She mentioned that she was going to be five minutes late.
https://www.thefreedictionary.com/mentioned
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — MENTIONED definition: 1. past simple and past participle of mention 2. to speak about something quickly, giving little…. Learn more.
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/mentione…
verified
Claim 2: “The team also examined mothers’ employment histories before conception, during pregnancy and through early infancy, using records from Denmark’s national pension registry.”
VERIFIED
The evidence explicitly confirms that researchers used the Danish Pension Fund Registry to obtain maternal employment histories.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — The researchers suggest that stress at work (similarly for those working in the judicial sector) may also contribute to maternal fatigue and discomfort and may adversely impact child neurodevelopment,…
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-05-autism-spectrum-disor…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Additionally, because maternity leave compensation may be documented in pension fund records without indicating the mother’s physical absence from the workplace, researchers were unable to determine p…
https://studyfinds.com/mom-job-autism/
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Mothers’ employment histories were obtained from the Danish Pension Fund Registry. Conditional logistic regression models were used to test associations between occupations held ever, 1 year before co…
https://psychiatryai.com/associations-between-maternal-occup…
check_circle
Claim 3: “Adults ages 26 to 34 have also seen a 450% increase in diagnoses between 2011 and 2022.”
CORROBORATED
Three independent web search results explicitly state the 450% increase in autism diagnoses for adults aged 26-34 between 2011 and 2022.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — New research from Kaiser Permanente shows autism diagnoses increased by 175% between 2011 and 2022, with the latest CDC data indicating 1 in 31 U.S. children are now affected. Young adults aged 26-34 …
https://trial.medpath.com/news/41d8ca34f507ce9f/autism-diagn…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — The rise in diagnoses was especially dramatic among young adults ages 26 to 34 -- this group experienced a 450% increase (equivalent to more than a 5.5 times rise) in autism diagnoses between 2011 and…
https://www.healthday.com/health-news/child-health/autism-di…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — From 2011 to 2022, overall autism diagnosis rates increased by 175 percent, the authors found.
https://www.theepochtimes.com/health/study-shows-450-percent…
check_circle
Claim 4: “a team at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health say mothers in high-stress jobs or roles involving toxic chemical exposure could see higher autism rates in their children.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple sources confirm that researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health linked high-stress jobs and toxic chemical exposure to higher autism rates.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Conclusions Associations between certain maternal employment categories with high toxicant or psychosocial stress exposure suggest future studies should focus on examining specific toxicant exposures …
https://oem.bmj.com/content/oemed/early/2026/05/05/oemed-202…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Now, a team at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health say mothers in high-stress jobs or roles involving toxic chemical exposure could see higher autism rates in their children.
https://nypost.com/2026/05/13/health/moms-job-may-be-linked-…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Μake us preferred on Google Mothers who work in occupations involving frequent exposure to toxic chemicals or high levels of stress have an increased likelihood of having a child diagnosed with autism…
https://www.tovima.com/society/study-links-maternal-job-stre…
check_circle
Claim 5: “The team found that children whose mothers worked in the military or other defense roles up to one year before or during pregnancy were 59% more likely to be diagnosed with autism.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple sources confirm the finding that mothers in military or defense roles had a 59% increase in the odds of their child being diagnosed with ASD.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Mothers working in high-stress or chemically exposed jobs before and during pregnancy face a higher likelihood of having a child with autism, a new study finds.
https://www.tovima.com/society/study-links-maternal-job-stre…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Working in military or defense occupations before or during pregnancy increased the odds of a child being diagnosed with ASD by 59%, the study found.
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-05-autism-spectrum-disor…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — “This study investigates patterns of autism diagnosis in Denmark. It assesses whether autism rates are higher amongst individuals whose mothers worked in particular professions, either at any time in …
https://www.sciencemediacentre.org/expert-reaction-to-observ…
info
Claim 6: “Researchers recorded a 24% higher prevalence of autism among children whose mothers worked in ground transportation, while the figure reached 59% in the judicial sector.”
SINGLE SOURCE
While the general link to ground transportation and judicial sectors is mentioned in some results, the specific percentages (24% and 59%) are not consistently corroborated across multiple independent sources in the provided evidence set.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — The study found the odds of having a child with ASD were increased for mothers who were employed before conception up to infancy in ground transportation, public administration and in the military.
https://www.miragenews.com/child-autism-risk-tied-to-mothers…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — A Danish study of more than 110,000 children found that mothers who worked in military or defense, ground transportation, or public administration jobs were more likely to have a child diagnosed with …
https://studyfinds.com/mom-job-autism/
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Some believed their children had been injured by vaccines. Numerous studies on hundreds of thousands of children have consistently found no link between vaccinations and autism , and vaccinated childr…
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20250509-why-autism-diagn…
check_circle
Claim 7: “Diagnoses in the US have climbed sharply in recent years, from 1 in 150 children in 2000 to 1 in 31 by 2022.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple web search results confirm the current CDC data of 1 in 31 children and the historical context of 1 in 150 in 2000.
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — The heritability of autism is the proportion of differences in expression of autism that can be explained by genetic variation. Autism has a strong genetic basis. Although the genetics of autism are c…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heritability_of_autism
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — Autism, also known as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is a condition characterized by differences or difficulties in social communication and interaction, a need or strong preference for predictabilit…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autism
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is diagnosed through observed and reported behavior; no biological or genetic markers currently allow for a definitive diagnosis. Clinicians base assessments on standard…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diagnosis_of_autism
+ 3 more evidence sources
info
Claim 8: “Researchers analyzed data from Denmark covering 1,702 children diagnosed with autism and born between 1973 and 2012. Those cases were compared with more than 108,000 children without the condition, matched by sex and birth year.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The provided web search results for this specific claim were generic dictionary definitions and study-help websites, failing to provide the actual data from the Danish study to verify the numbers 1,702 and 108,000.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Take online courses on Study.com that are fun and engaging. Pass exams to earn real college credit. Research schools and degrees to further your education.
https://study.com/
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Dive into millions of student-shared lecture notes, summaries, and study guides from thousands of courses. Why wait to pass your exams with better grades?
https://www.studocu.com/en-us
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — consider, study, contemplate, weigh mean to think about in order to arrive at a judgment or decision. consider may suggest giving thought to in order to reach a suitable conclusion, opinion, or decisi…
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/study
help
Claim 9: “No clear link was found for mothers working in agriculture, despite potential pesticide exposure.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was provided for this claim in the search results.
help
Claim 10: “several other fields — including air transportation, chemical processing and cleaning services — did not show significant effects on spectrum diagnoses once other factors were taken into account.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was provided for this claim in the search results.
schedule
Claim 11: “the finding that mothers working in the judicial sector were 59% more likely to have a child diagnosed with autism is based on just 29 cases.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.