Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Cunningham-Burley, Sarah
• Backett-Milburn, Kathryn
• Kemmer, Debbie

Titel

Balancing Work and Family Life: Mothers' Views

Ist Teil von

• FAMILY IN SOCIETY, 2005, p.23-38

Erscheinungsjahr

2005

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

Sociological Abstracts

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Draws on interviews with 30 lone & partnered mothers in non-professional, non-managerial occupations, to explore negotiations & tensions that characterize the lives of mothers in paid work outside the home. The focus is on the boundaries these mothers construct between work & home & how these boundaries are violated by the intrusion of work life into family life & vice-versa. It was found that it was important for the respondents to maintain both a symbolic & practical distinction between work & family. Boundaries not only served to preserve the integrity of both domains & the mother's role/identity within them, but they helped the mothers meet the responsibilities of work & home while lessening the inevitable tensions that result. However, boundaries were inevitably permeated & this was not necessarily considered a bad thing since the mother's paid work benefited her children. The greatest problems centered on work hours, childcare arrangements, or work itself. Difficulties encountered in attempts to construct flexible boundaries are described. Numerous excerpts from the interviews are included. References. J. Lindroth