‘I’m so much more myself now, coming back to work’ - working class mothers, paid work and childcare.

As can be seen, the 70 mothers comprised a wide and varied group and this diversity
has led to data which is challenging to analyse. The different combinations of class,
ethnicity, religion, educational credentials, length of time in the UK, partnership
status and family composition inflect in a variety of subtle and nuanced ways on
individual decision-making in relation to the acceptable balance between paid work
and home life.

Mother’s perceptions of work

For some of the mothers we interviewed, working and earning a living played a major
role in their self-perceptions:

Once you’re at work it’s like for me, I couldn’t just give up to do nothing.
(Hazel, two children, black Caribbean, live-out partner, ft childcare worker)

I can’t imagine not working, getting up in the morning and doing nothing with
my day. (Daisy, one child, mixed race, lone mother, pt administrator)

In the earlier study which focused on middle class parents, mothers who remained in
the labour market talked about ‘the liberation of working’ (Vincent & Ball 2006, p.
78), meaning this socially and emotionally, as well as financially. It provided them
with a publicly recognised sense of self and adult relationships separate from their
identities as mothers. Middle class mothers’ commitment to their paid work, where

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