employment can offer a space for self expression, is also emphasised by McMahon
(1995) and Gatrell (2005). And Himmelweit and Sigala find that the full-time
working mothers in their study take pride in coping ‘against insane odds’, respondents
stressing their abilities to manage time and competing priorities (2004, p. 466).
Viewing employment as a key part of one’s identity is not a prerogative of middle
class mothers, Irwin finds that ‘paid work appears to be a core component of the
identity of a wide spectrum of women who have young children’ (2005, p. 104). The
mothers in our study talked about work as providing them with an independent sense
of self, Kim (two children, white UK, live-in partner, pt self-employed) states that
work is important to her because ‘It’s mine, it’s what I do!’ and Dawn (one child,
Asian other, married, pt childcare worker) declaring ‘I’m so much more myself now,
coming back to work’.
Thus mothers expressed considerable commitment and pride in their employment,
regardless of the low status and low pay of some of the work they were doing. Of the
35 mothers who were in either full-time or part-time employment, 17 worked in the
public sector, often in caring capacities such as nurses, childcare workers or teaching
assistants, but also in lower level administrative posts. Those working in the private
sector worked in retail and personal services such as hairdressing (nine) or again in
administrative capacities (six), three of the mothers were self-employed. Some of the
interviewees have worked their way up in organisations and were justifiably proud of
their achievements. Moira, who left school with no qualifications said:
I was doing care work [] for about three years, and then they had a vacancy in
the office [] answering the phones, and then I got promoted to care coordinator
12