Document Type

Article

Source Publication Title

Families in Society

DOI

10.1177/10443894231183609

Abstract

This study explores mothers' experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic with a focus on stressors, parenting roles, and work expectations. Qualitative analysis of open-ended interviews with a diverse group of 44 mothers in the United States generated two main themes: adjusting parenting roles and career concerns for mothers. Findings reveal that mothers have internalized strong intrafamily expectations to shoulder the primary responsibility for domestic labor and child care in addition to completing their work obligations and experienced institutional gender bias in the expectations that employers have for female employees. The interviews highlight lower expectations for fathers' contributions to parenting under pandemic conditions. Implications for research and policy are discussed with a particular focus on critiquing structures that may perpetuate gender disparities.

Publication Date

1-1-2023

Language

English

Comments

The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: We would like to thank the mothers who graciously took the time to participate in this study. This project is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under the Life Course Intervention Research Network (LCIRN) grant, UA6MC32492. The information, content, and/or conclusions are those of the authors and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by HRSA, HHS, or the U.S. Government.

License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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