Divergent rhythms of motherhood. Patterns of paid and unpaid work and domestic outsourcing among mothers in the United Kingdom and Western Germany

Abstract

Objective: This article investigates class differences in mothers’ daily organization of paid and unpaid work, and how they are associated with domestic outsourcing in the United Kingdom and Western Germany. Background: Operating hours of schools and daycare facilities often conflict with long working hours in high-skilled jobs and nonstandard working hours in low-skilled jobs. However, little is known on whether advantaged mothers rely on domestic outsourcing to resolve such scheduling conflicts, and how disadvantaged mothers reconcile their daily care responsibilities with paid work, depending on the welfare state context. Method: The study uses sequence and cluster analyses on time-use data to identify typical patterns of paid and unpaid work (N=1,947). Regression models predict how these patterns differ by the mothers’ education and household income, and how they are associated with outsourcing housework and childcare. Results: In both contexts, disadvantaged mothers were more likely to have unpaid workdays rather than nonstandard workdays. However, British advantaged mothers were considerably more likely to outsource childcare to pursue standard workdays. By contrast, the pattern of partial workdays in the morning, combined with more unpaid work allocation, prevailed among Western German mothers. Conclusion: In the United Kingdom, more market-oriented as opposed to conservative family policies, stronger labor market deregulation, and more consistent policy incentives for domestic outsourcing seem more effective than in Western Germany in promoting advantaged mothers’ careers. However, this comes at the expense of greater class differences in how mothers organize their time.