Blurred Lines for Mothers in the Middle: Experiences of Precarity and Positivity

• In Event: Inequality, Poverty, and Mobility Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): 12. Families and Inequality

Abstract

This research explores the holistic experience of precarity for middle class working mothers in Oklahoma. Utilizing PhotoVoice, a participatory action-based methodology developed by Wang and Burris (1997), this exploratory qualitative study moves beyond a conventional definition of precarity based on income or employment to conceptualize precarity as a holistic experience of persistent insecurity that incorporates both objective and subjective domains. This research argues that in the current sociopolitical atmosphere of the United States, even households that look stable on the outside may be navigating complex and multilayered experiences of insecurity. Five working mothers were invited to participate in this project; they collected data in the form of pictures and then analyzed the data with the researcher in individual interviews and focus groups. This analysis revealed three themes: material and systemic brokenness in their daily lives, the coping mechanisms they use to maintain hope, and their worries and questions about the future. The findings suggest that the precarity experienced by these middle-class mothers is characterized by a "blurring of the lines" between the structures that have been holding firm and the uncertainty of the future. Their reflections and questions bring precarity into focus by suggesting new questions that inform research and policy advocacy opportunities and allow us to redefine the expanding experiences of precarity across class lines.

Author

• Emily R. D. Bonner, University of Oklahoma