AbstractFor primary school children episodes of illness are almost inevitable and their occurrence is frequently unpredictable. To examine whether maternal employment is a factor which is associated with school sickness absence a study was carried out in Leeds of 139 families with children aged 6‐7 attending five study schools. Some 282 episodes of illness leading to school absence occurred over two school terms. Children of mothers working full‐time had less than half the time off school than children whose mothers were not in paid employment. A number of factors could explain these differences including the use of differing severity thresholds in the two groups and social class differences in the distribution of illness. Perceptions about school policies and school staff were both taken into account by mothers in the decision‐making process leading up to school absence and before the return to school. They also influenced the way the illness episode was ma