She Can’t Always Get What She Wants: Aspirations Versus Actualities for Combining Work and Motherhood

• In Event: 3523 - Family Section Refereed Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 min): Table 11: Work and Families

Abstract

Women’s post-child work behaviors can impact future earnings and career opportunities. This research examines the decision-making processes that underlie mothers’ paid work behaviors at three distinct axes: 1) before the arrival of children, as women make plans about how and whether to alter their paid work to accommodate the demands of child-rearing, 2) immediately following the transition to motherhood, as they attempt to enact their initial plans, and 3) over the ensuing years of parenthood as caregiving demands continue to impact their work in small and large ways. To do so, it relies on both original survey data from a convenience sample of 1,776 mothers across the United States and subsequent in-depth interviews with 48 survey respondents. Quantitative data allowed for the identification of patterns over time, while open-ended survey responses and interviews revealed more specific and nuanced sources of support and constraint. Analyzed together, the results confirm previously identified decision-making factors while also illuminating ways these factors interact to sculpt post-child work paths. By allowing women to identify and further discuss the factors that motivated their decisions about paid work over the course of their mothering lives, this research advances the existing literature on the financial ramifications of motherhood. It offers a preliminary theoretical framework to illustrate how preferences, resources and logistics work together to encourage or discourage workforce attachment. The rich data yielded by its unique design paints a more holistic picture of the motherhood pay gap and suggests several areas for potential remediation.

Author

• Sarah Deming, Washington State University