Parenting, Gender and Work: A Sociological Perspective

Abstract

This chapter presents the issue of parenthood as a subject of sociological inquiry in the context of broader social and cultural changes. I demonstrate why parenthood should be perceived as a process that is strictly connected with social, cultural and institutional contexts. Keeping this in mind I argue that there is no one proper way of doing parenthood. The most important aspect here are the links between parenthood and paid work. I critically approach the concept of work/life balance that is vastly popular in contemporary social sciences, but in my opinion is not always adequate to describe parenting in a post-communist society. I propose to look at parenthood through the lenses of three types of work: care work, paid work and domestic work. I claim that such approach helps to grasp different ways of parenting in contemporary times, as well as to recognise persisting gender and economic inequalities.

Pandemic Era Maternal Alexithymia and Burnout as Mediated by Self-Efficacy and Resilience

“…In this culture child care tasks are mostly delegated to mothers, who are expected to sacrifice themselves for the good of the family. Research on burnout has focused primarily on professional life, while the study of risk factors related to parental burnout is still in its infancy (Mikolajczak et al, 2020;2021). Our study thus attempted to extend current knowledge by collecting some evidence relevant to the role of alexithymia as a risk factor for the onset of parental burnout.…”

“…While Katsifaraki and Wood (2014) reported a linkage between alexithymia and burnout in relatives of people who suffered from traumatic brain injury, no study seems to have specifically examined the relationship between alexithymia and parental burnout. Although job burnout and parental burnout share certain common characteristics (i.e., exhaustion, detachment, feelings of ineffectiveness), they should be considered two different forms of burnout, with specific outcomes related to the domain of personal life in which they occur, with parental burnout having a more direct and specific effect on child development (Mikolajczak et al, 2020;2021). Therefore, it is important to extend our knowledge of the risk factors involved in specific kinds of parental burnout, and to identify its possible mechanisms.…”

“…Mothers seem to be at greater risk of parental burnout (Furutani et al, 2020;Mousavi, 2020;Lebert-Charron et al, 2021;Roskam et al 2021), probably due to the fact that they are more exposed to parental stress, and also because women are traditionally entrusted with child care, even when they are professionally active. This aspect seems to be of particular interest in Poland, a country where a deeply patriarchal culture still prevails and where egalitarian parental roles are rare (Wejnert & Djumabaeva, 2012;Suwada, 2021). The appellation of "matka polka" (Polish mother) is widely associated with the female sex.…”

Studia Socjologiczne

“…Co więcej, w polskim kontekście praca zarobkowa kobiet rzadko jest postrzegana jako priorytetowa, raczej ma służyć jako uzupełnienie zarobków mężczyzny, którego główną rolą jest utrzymanie rodziny (Jarska 2020;Sikorska 2019;Suwada 2021b). Praca zarobkowa kobiety jest determinowana wzorcem "Matki Polki", która powinna przedkładać role rodzinne nad aktywność zawodową (Titkow 2012), a także akceptować priorytetowość pracy zarobkowej męża lub partnera.…”

“…To przekonanie przekłada się na to, w jaki sposób traktuje się pracę zarobkową kobiety. Jest ona drugoplanowa, jeśli spoczywają na kobiecie jednocześnie obowiązki opiekuńcze (Suwada 2021b). Kobiety doświadczające bezrobocia skarżą się na dyskryminację na rynku pracy w związku z zajściem w ciążę i macierzyństwem.…”