Low‐income and Middle‐class Mothers Gendered Work and Family Schemas

In: Sociology compass, Band 9, Heft 12, S. 1106-1118

Abstract

AbstractConflict between the demands of paid work and motherhood has been studied primarily from the experience of middle‐class and professional mothers in dual‐earner families. Recently, with the reform of welfare, a number of studies have focused on the problems of poor mothers in meeting the demands of paid employment and caring for children. This article explores the moral discourse of judgments about paid work and motherhood and how this differs for low‐income and married middle‐class women. It reviews research that considers why poor single mothers are seen as irresponsible when they leave work due to family demands when professional and middle‐class married mothers are seen as acting selflessly. It examines how gendered schema differentially influences the work and family choices of married middle‐class and professional mothers compared to poor and low‐income mothers.