Impossible arrangements

The extreme challenge of child care for low-income mothers

Dados Bibliográficos

ID2816600
AutoresA Freeman (0000-0002-6156-7444, Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice University of Hartford West Hartford Connecticut USA, autor correspondente)
Ano2024
Volume83
Fascículo5
Páginas971-989
Data de publicação2024-11-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoAmerican Journal of Economics and Sociology (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0002-9246 • E-ISSN: 1536-7150
EditoraWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/ajes.12562
OpenAlexW4391228219
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas5
Referências citadas61

Arranging safe and secure child care is necessary for parents of dependent children to maintain their participation in the labor force. This article uncovered the extreme version of work-childcare conflict faced by low-income mothers. The constant, underlying threat of the loss of income and unsafe conditions for children influences child care and work, hindering their ability to move out of poverty even when employed. This qualitative study uses interview and focus group data collected from low-income mothers in Colorado, Georgia, and Massachusetts from 2009 to 2020 to explore the obstacles as well as the strategies for finding and keeping child care. The data are the mother's voices as they describe their experiences negotiating care arrangements while working or looking for work. Factors that contributed to this extreme version of work-childcare conflict included: difficult conditions at work and mixed experience relying on care from family and friends. Also uncovered were problems affording paid care and utilizing public vouchers, which may undermine assistance programs. Child care from schools, family, and public programs were greatly diminished during the Covid-19 pandemic, further exacerbating work-childcare conflict for low-income mothers. Policy implications and the effects of the pandemic on childcare arrangements were also considered

Business · Demographic economics · Economics · Low income · Gender, Labor, and Family Dynamics · Intergenerational Family Dynamics and Caregiving · Psychology · Work-Family Balance Challenges