Introduction

This chapter reviews research about parental perspectives and experiences of paid work. It highlights discrepancies between parental aspirations and preferences in relation to work–family issues and dominant current policy perspectives which inform welfare to work and family-friendly employment policies. The chapter further finds that, while recent childcare, in-work support and employability reforms have extended support and opportunities to many parents, the framework of support for parents in relation to employment opportunities and experiences does not fully take account of the ongoing difficulties some parents face in taking up and sustaining training and paid employment, or achieving a satisfactory work–family balance.

Family, children and paid work: conflicting obligations and aspirations?

Several research studies debate the ‘heterogeneity of work–family preferences’ among men and women (Duncan and Edwards, 1999; Hakim, 2002; Bell et al, 2005; Speight et al, 2009). A considerable literature has examined mothers’ orientations to paid work, given the historical construction of gendered family roles; increases in maternal employment rates in recent decades; and the lag in lone mothers’ employment rates. In an attempt to move beyond ‘preference versus structural constraint’ debates, Duncan and Edwards’ (1999) research examined lone mothers’ attitudes to paid work in Britain, Germany and Sweden, combining qualitative, quantitative and comparative research methods and utilising an ‘actioncontext’ approach to integrate several analytical concerns, namely:

• • the ‘micro-level’ context of personal subjective experience and beliefs about motherhood, welfare receipt and employment; and individual social location in terms of welfare receipt, social class, ethnicity, age, education and qualifications;

• • the ‘meso-level’ context: lone mothers’ social networks and neighbourhoods, which influence individual norms and values, and access to resources, support and opportunities; and

• • the ‘macro social structural context’: such as welfare state contexts, and economic and labour market trends.

Duncan and Edwards (1999) argued that lone mothers’ decisions about taking up and sustaining paid work were informed by personal, moral and social understandings about maternal responsibilities for children and children's needs. This challenged the view that welfare-reliant lone mothers were primarily constrained by financial benefit traps, low human capital, a lack of affordable and accessible childcare and a lack of viable employment opportunities.