Skip to main content

ETHNOS_APP

Home • Search • Journals • List 0

Gluing, catching and connecting

How Informal Childcare Strengthens Single Mothers' Employment Trajectories

Bibliographic Data

ID2374073
AuthorsMichelle Brady (0000-0002-3610-8473, The University of Queensland, corresponding author)
Year2016
Volume30
Issue5
Pages821-837
Publication date2016-10-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueWork Employment and Society (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0950-0170 • E-ISSN: 1469-8722
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0950017016630259
OpenAlexW2297393199
LanguageEN
Citations received15
References cited25

Research on single mothers' employment overwhelmingly focuses on the importance of access to formal childcare at a single point in time. However, to understand the relationship between childcare and single mothers' employment we must consider their access to and use of multiple forms of childcare - their childcare packages - and how these change over time. Drawing on a longitudinal qualitative study and employing the concepts of 'caringscapes' and 'work-time/childcare-time', this article highlights how childcare packages shape single mothers' employment trajectories. Informal carers play a crucial role within mixed (formal and informal) childcare packages in helping mothers bring children's needs, work-time and childcare-time into alignment, thus strengthening their employment trajectories. Informal carers achieve this effect by: (1) increasing the total hours of non-parental care; (2) 'gluing' together complex jigsaws of care; (3) offering a 'safety net' in times of crisis; and (4) playing a 'connector' role during employment transitions

Business · Child care · Developmental psychology · Economics · Labour economics · Longitudinal data · Point (geometry · Political science · Qualitative research · Safety net · Single mothers · Single point · Sociology · Work (physics · Employment and Welfare Studies · Engineering · Gender, Labor, and Family Dynamics · Medicine · Nursing · Psychology · Work-Family Balance Challenges

  • Separated families’ use of formal and informal childcare across 12 European countries

    Melissa Radey, Milla Salin et al.•Journal of Family Studies•2026

  • Women’s skills and career advancement

    Open Access•Nizam Ud Din, Xinsheng Cheng et al.•Economic Research-Ekonomska…•2018

  • Autonomy, Fairness and Active Relationships

    Open Access•Elizabeth Cooke, Michelle Brady et al.•Children & Society•2019

  • Work-Hour Trajectories and Associated Socioeconomic Characteristics among Single-Mother Families

    Open Access•Chi-Fang Wu, Yu-Ling Chang et al.•Social Work Research•2020

  • Paying the price

    Kerryn Colen, Rhonda Breitkreuz•Community Work & Family•2019

  • Producing the patchwork

    Rhonda Breitkreuz, Kerryn Colen et al.•Journal of Family Studies•2019

  • Does Maternity Leave Pay Off? Evidence from a Recent Reform in Australia

    Irina Hondralis•Social Politics International…•2016

  • Unpaid care, welfare conditionality and expropriation

    Open Access•E Klein•Gender Work and Organization•2021

  • An exploratory study examining the changes to Australia’s social security system during Covid‐19 lockdown measures

    Open Access•E Klein, K Cook et al.•Australian Journal of Social Issues•2022

  • Crowded‐out? Changes in informal childcare during the expansion of formal services in Germany

    Open Access•Ludovica Gambaro, Clara Schäper et al.•Social Policy and Administration•2024

  • Childcare arrangements and working mothers' satisfaction with work-family balance

    Open Access•Bruno Arpino, Francesca Luppi•Demographic Research•2020

  • We Ask for More Than We Give Back

    Open Access•Barbara Cosson, K Cook et al.•Journal of Family Issues•2021

  • Exploring Women's Mutuality in Confronting Care-Precarity

    Open Access•Anni Raw, Linda Mckie•Sociology•2020

  • Who Cares if Parents have Unpredictable Work Schedules

    Open Access•K Harknett, Daniel Schneider et al.•Social Problems•2022

  • Who cares? Childcare support and women's labor supply in Hong Kong

    Open Access•D Xu, Jiao Guo et al.•Chinese Sociological Review•2024

  • Qualitative Data Analysis for Applied Policy Research

    Jane Ritchie, Liz Spencer•The Qualitative Researcher's…•2002

  • Social support in single parents' transition from welfare to work

    Open Access•K Cook, Kay E Cook•International Journal of Social…•2011

  • Continuity and change in a qualitative longitudinal study of fatherhood

    Fiona Shirani, K Henwood•International Journal of Social…•2010

  • The work–family support roles of child care providers across settings

    Open Access•Juliet Bromer, Julia R Henly•Early Childhood Research Quarterly•2009

  • Lone Parents and Informal Childcare

    Open Access•Christine Skinner, Naomi Finch•Social Policy and Administration•2006

  • Lone Mothers between Paid Work and Care

    Annemette Sorensen, Majella Kilkey•Contemporary Sociology A Journal…•2002

  • Difficulties after Leaving Tanf

    S G Anderson, Anthony P Halter et al.•Social Work•2004

  • Family Comes First or Open All Hours

    Open Access•Kathryn Backett‐milburn, Kathryn Backett-Milburn et al.•The Sociological Review•2008

  • How Do Mothers Choose Child Care? Alternative Cultural Models in Poor Neighborhoods

    Bruce Fuller, Susan D Holloway et al.•Sociology of Education•1996

  • The intersections of work time and care time

    Open Access•J Lindsay, Janemaree Maher•Work Employment and Society•2014

  • Entrepreneurship and institution-building in the case of childminding

    Open Access•Ian Greener•Work Employment and Society•2009

  • Hours of Paid Work Among Single and Partnered Mothers in Australia

    Open Access•Michelle Brady, F Perales•Journal of Family Issues•2016

  • Shadow Times

    Open Access•Linda Mckie, Susan Gregory et al.•Sociology•2002

  • Familial Factors Associated With the Use of Multiple Child-Care Arrangements

    Open Access•Taryn W Morrissey•Journal of Marriage and the Family•2008

  • Instability in patchworks of child care when moving from welfare to work

    Open Access•Emma Scott, Ellen K Scott et al.•Journal of Marriage and the Family•2005

  • Are All Single Mothers the Same? Evidence from British and West German Women's Employment Trajectories

    H Zagel•European Sociological Review•2014

  • The relationship of maternal work characteristics to childcare type and quality in rural communities

    Allison De Marco, Ann C Crouter et al.•Community Work & Family•2009

  • Relationships of Care

    Open Access•Jane Millar, Tess Ridge•Journal of Social Policy•2009

  • Grandparents Are the Next Best Thing

    Open Access•Jane Wheelock, Katharine Jones•Journal of Social Policy•2002

Unique citing works15
Citations per year1,5
Citation span2016 - 2026 (11)
Citation velocitycurrent
Highly citedNo
Citation typesNeutral: 15
Ethnos_APP • Open Source Project • MIT License • Frontend v2.0.0 • Privacy and Cookies • API Documentation: api.ethnos.app/docs • API Source Code: GitHub • DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17049435 • Frontend Source Code: GitHub • DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17050053 • cruz.rio.br • Expectantes Misericordiae