‘I’m so much more myself now, coming back to work’ – working class mothers, paid work and childcare

Braun, Annette; Vincent, Carol; Ball, Stephen J.

doi:10.1080/02680930802054370

Cited by 28 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Those at home with their children were mostly planning to return to the labour market, as their children get older. Work was seen as a way of providing a better life for themselves and their children, as well as adult company and stimulation, and is about acting responsibly and being a role-model of proper behaviour to their children; it is also about self-worth, about being 'proud' (for a discussion, see Braun, Vincent, and Ball 2008).…”

Section: Being a 'Good' Mother: Being At Work?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Between the estate and the state: struggling to be a ‘good’ mother

Vincent

Ball

Braun

2010

British Journal of Sociology of Education

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The paper draws on an ESRC-funded study of 70 families in two London locations. It focuses on a set of contemporary and contradictory political discourses that work on and through the lives of working-class mothers and thereby create tensions and impossibilities within their lives. We illustrate the ways in which these women are positioned by and within these discourses in ways that leave them vulnerable to political and media criticisms. IntroductionIt is important to be very clear what this paper is about and is not about. It focuses on a set of contemporary and contradictory political discourses that work on and through the lives of working-class women and thereby create tensions and impossibilities within their lives. That is, these women are positioned by and within these discourses in ways that leave them vulnerable to political and media criticisms (see some examples in the text). We are not here making general empirical claims about the lives of all working-class mothers based on our sample; rather, the sample provides insights into contexts within which these discourses and their effects become visible and palpable. These discourses are played out in very practical and material circumstances. As we quote examples from our data, it will be apparent that there are many echoes of and similarities with previous research on normative mothering (for example, David et al. 1993; Pillay 2007; and others below). We reference some of this work below but cannot offer a full review of the research here (see, rather, Vincent 2010).Public political discourses have always surged and seethed around the lives of working-class mothers. Mac an Ghaill and Haywood (2007, 56) note that there is 'a long history of state generated discourses about "not good enough/bad mothers" including that of maternal deprivation (1950s), latchkey kids (1970s) and dual workers (1980s)'. Here we address the current iteration and inflection of these discourses. We do so by drawing upon interviews with a group of working-class mothers living in two locations in inner London (Battersea and Stoke Newington). We spoke to these women as part of an ESRC-funded project (RES 000230770) on working-class families and their engagement with childcare provision. We draw attention here to the way in which these women are required to -and, in many cases, require themselves -to

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Section: Being a 'Good' Mother: Being At Work?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Between the estate and the state: struggling to be a ‘good’ mother

Vincent

Ball

Braun

2010

British Journal of Sociology of Education

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“…We have discussed elsewhere the somewhat limited role in terms of child‐rearing that many of our fathers adopted, acting as ancillaries to the mothers (Vincent & Ball, 2006, ch. 5; Braun et al ., 2008; see also Dermott, 2008).…”

Section: Choicementioning

confidence: 95%

Local links, local knowledge: Choosing care settings and schools

Vincent

Braun

Ball

2010

British Educational Res J

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This article draws on data from two recently completed Economic and Social Research Council funded projects in order to examine class differences and similarities in choice of school and choice of childcare. The authors argue that there is every reason to believe that in many circumstances, within its particular mechanisms and practices, choice produces specific and pervasive forms of inequity. The processes by which working‐class parents in one study chose care settings and schools could be seen as less skilled, less informed, less careful than the decision making of many of the middle‐class respondents. However, this is not an argument that the authors advance, noting instead that the practices and meanings of choice are subject to significant social, cultural and economic variations in terms of who gets to choose, who gets their choices, and what, how and why people choose when they are able to. The authors argue that there are alternative sets of priorities in play for the working‐class respondents, involving attachments to the communal and the local.

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“…The women in this research can be broadly classified as "middle class" but do conform to the pattern described by Vincent and Ball (2006). Instead, they exhibit attitudes more akin to those identified in Western working class women whilst their professional counterparts in the UK have moved onto selecting stay at home roles citing the stresses between the demands of paid work and mothering responsibilities (Braun et al, 2008).…”

Section: Bright Progress and Change Versus Sombre Strugglementioning

confidence: 99%

Entangled between tradition and modernity: the experiences of Bhutanese working women

Dayaram

Pick²

2012

Society and Business Review

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PurposeThe purpose of this article is to examine the shifting roles of Bhutanese women in employment and family as they navigate tensions between tradition and modernity.Design/methodology/approachTo achieve greater understanding of the experiences of the women in this research, a theoretical framework dubbed a “matrix of entanglements” is developed and tested through the analysis of qualitative interview data from 38 Bhutanese working women. In doing so the ways in which these women reconcile competing demands on their personal resources are assessed.FindingsIt is found that the women are experiencing entanglements as they negotiate western endogenous modernity, an emerging “Bhutanese modernity”, and traditional social, cultural, economic and political patterns.Research limitations/implicationsWhile this research is limited to a single nation, it demonstrates the potential usefulness of applying a “matrix of entanglements” as an analytical tool. In conducting the analysis, questions are raised about genuine development as opposed to new globalized circumstances that seem to serve the purposes of powerful economic and political groups inside and outside Bhutan rather than broader society.Practical implicationsThe analysis has illuminated the extent to which the Bhutanese “mid‐way” economic/cultural policy goals may be compromized by global influences beyond the control of state actors.Originality/valueThis paper presents a new way of conceptualizing the problems confronted by working women in developing nations as they try to reconcile the competing demands of tradition and modernity.

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‘I’m so much more myself now, coming back to work’ – working class mothers, paid work and childcare

Cited by 28 publications

References 24 publications

Between the estate and the state: struggling to be a ‘good’ mother

Between the estate and the state: struggling to be a ‘good’ mother

Local links, local knowledge: Choosing care settings and schools

Entangled between tradition and modernity: the experiences of Bhutanese working women

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