Mothers, Leisure, and the Great Recession: Exploring a Life Course Trajectory During a Historical Event

• In Event: 106 - Open Refereed Roundtable Session I
  In Refereed Roundtable: A. Table 06. Family: Interrogating Motherhood and Fatherhood

Abstract

Guided by the life course theory, this study examined how mothers experienced leisure during the Great Recession. As expected, time and money were frequently described as leisure constraints. As mothers, women said they had little leisure time and their lack of access to affordable child-care limited them from gaining more. But unexpectedly, while the recession made mothers more conscious of how much money they spent on leisure, few mothers reported their leisure was greatly impacted by the poor economy. This has implications for understanding how the trajectory of motherhood shapes women's experience of leisure.

Author

• Elizabeth Burkhalter, Irvine Valley College