“My village is everything”: A Qualitative Analysis of Black Working Mothers' Family and Community Support Systems

• In Event: Family Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 2: Black Families

Abstract

Sociological research on Black mothers highlights the significance of kinship and community networks in supporting Black women who balance employment and childrearing. This study uses in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 50 Black mothers in Los Angeles to explore their experiences with familial and community support while navigating employment and childrearing. Findings support that Black mothers across class backgrounds, ethnic affiliations, and marital status understand that kinship support (biological and fictive) is crucial to raising children while navigating employment. While all mothers believed in the communal act of Black motherwork, not all of them had access to family and community support. Those who had community and family support often relied on grandparents, fathers, and non-biological kin, showing the diversity in Black family dynamics for Black women. Mothers without community and family support often suffer from internal family struggles or have recently moved (domestically or internationally) from their home support systems. Findings from this study show the importance of community in Black maternal ideologies across diverse communities of Black mothers with varying access to support.

Author

• Nia Flowers, Arizona State University-Tempe