A MEANING OF PAID WORK IN THE COURSE OF LIFE OF YOUNG WOMEN (Vyznam placene prace v kontextu zivotniho behu mladych zen)

• Authors: Bartosova Michaela
• Languages of publication: CS

Abstracts

EN

Declining fertility, childlessness or postponement of maternity is among other things interpreted as a consequence of work vs. care conflict, i.e. a conflict between paid employment and pay free work in the household, including the care for children. Women anticipate the perils and uncertainty that the long absence on the labour market due to maternity leave can bring. Family social politics that should support combination of the two spheres, or allow men to participate more in child care are not yet enforced in the context of Czech Republic. In terms of sociological theory, there is an absence of consent regarding the fact, whether social policies may actually have a significant impact on reproduction of women and men. The article is based on qualitative research and deals with the given issue through perception of young Czech women who gave birth to their first child after reaching the age of thirty, or who still remain childless at this age. It does not primarily focus on how they reflect the harmonization of public and private sphere, but recognizes the value they attach to paid work during their life course and the connection to other events, especially when deciding about maternity. The analysis of interviews with these women unveiled, above all, the changing perception of work depending on age, age norms of maternity, (non)existence of a partner and maternity consideration. Conflict between paid work and maternity acquires various forms and the influence of inadequate support in the effort to combine the both spheres is noticeable only indirectly through the process of how women think about maternity as a transition that longitudinally and significantly affects other life spheres.

Keywords

EN

CARE; CHILDLESSNESS; CZECH REPUBLIC; MATERNITY DECISION MAKING; PAID WORK; SOCIAL POLITICS; WOMEN

Discipline

• SOCIOLOGY: SOCIOLOGY

• Publisher: Institute of Sociology, Slovak Academy of Sciences
• Journal: Sociológia (Sociology)
• Year: 2011
• Volume: 43
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 158-182
• Document type: ARTICLE

Contributors

author

Bartosova Michaela

• Mgr. Michaela Bartosova, Institut pro vyzkum reprodukce a integrace spolecnosti FSS MU, Jostova 10, 602 00 Brno, Czech Republic

Identifiers

CEJSH db identifier

11SKAAAA096713