With the vigorous development of the digital economy and the continuous advancement of digital technologies, the impact of digital literacy on individual employment quality has become increasingly significant. The emerging new business formats spawned by this trend have brought new opportunities for women’s employment choices and career development. Moreover, the employment quality of motherhood has garnered considerable attention due to its unique characteristics. This study empirically analyzes the relationship between digital literacy and the employment quality of motherhood using panel data from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) spanning 2016 to 2022. The results indicate that an improvement in digital literacy has a significantly positive effect on the employment quality of motherhood. Further mechanism analysis reveals that digital literacy primarily enhances employment quality by improving motherhood’s information search capabilities and optimizing their labor time allocation to alleviate information asymmetry. Furthermore, digital literacy has a stronger positive effect on the employment quality of motherhood with fewer children, non-new employment patterns, low intergenerational dependence, and those residing in urban areas. This study provides policy recommendations for enhancing the employment quality of motherhood in the digital economy era, and offers micro-level evidence for promoting high-quality and full employment for women and facilitating high-quality economic development.

Digital Literacy, Employment Quality, Motherhood, Information Search, Labor Time Allocation