The Unstable Three-Legged Stool: Low-Income Women and Spatial Mismatch of Childcare, Work, and Residence

• In Event: 220 - Section on the Sociology of the Family Roundtables (one-hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 03. Childcare and Women's Paid Work

Abstract

Economic independence through stable employment is a primary goal of housing mobility programs. These programs expect participants to achieve this independence either by enriching their professional networks in new areas or by moving closer to areas of employment. Existing research, however, does not show marked improvement in program participants' employment and wages. To understand this finding, I question how spatial mismatch between residential location, childcare location, and location of employment affects the ability of low-income mothers to work and provide daily care for their children. Using data from a qualitative study of participants in the Baltimore Housing Mobility Program, I examine the childcare arrangements of mothers who have moved or are planning to move from inner-city neighborhoods to higher-income suburban neighborhoods.

Analysis of in-depth interviews reveals that participants rely heavily on informal childcare, both before and after moves to higher-income neighborhoods. The spatial mismatch of childcare network resources, job locations, and relocation neighborhoods often results in a patchwork of time-consuming childcare and work routines. Mothers employ settled and nomadic strategies to combat this mismatch. These strategies, often invisible to administrators and evaluators of social policy, may dampen participants' ability to leverage enriched neighborhood contexts for increased economic security. Seeking affordability, availability, and trust of childcare, mothers often rely on family to provide some amount daily care, before and after relocation. The study concludes that housing mobility programs might better support the families they serve by addressing the importance of trusted networks in daily survival strategies of low-income families.

Author

• Elizabeth Mary Talbert, Johns Hopkins University