an article by Pam Lowe and Sarah-Jane Page (Aston University, UK) published in European Journal of Women's Studies Volume 26 Issue 2 (May 2019)
Abstract
Across the UK, there has been an increase in anti-abortion activism outside abortion clinics. The activism deployed includes explicitly religious activities such as ‘prayerful witnessing’ and ‘pavement counselling’, which aim to discourage women from entering clinics.
This article stems from a wider ethnographic study of public activism over abortion to determine what claims about motherhood are being made within these debates.
Two arguments are presented.
First, how women’s role as mothers is central and essentialised in anti-abortion discourses, with the body of the mother often disappearing as activists seek to erode the distinction between a foetus and a baby by constructing pregnancy as a foetal environment. Motherhood is constructed as ‘natural’ and sacred, therefore abortion must be damaging because it destroys women’s ‘natural’ position.
Second, the article argues that although the activists’ arguments are always religiously framed, their activism takes place in a largely secular context, meaning that they have to find ways of appealing to secular audiences.
This leads to a complex interrelationship between secular and religious discourses, where theological viewpoints sit alongside ‘scientific’ claims to buttress activists’ views.
This article explores how the presence and absence of mothers within activists’ narratives is due to the tensions between religiously based understandings of motherhood, and the need to appeal to a secular audience.
Showing posts with label motherhood. Show all posts
Showing posts with label motherhood. Show all posts
Wednesday, 1 May 2019
Thursday, 24 January 2019
The influence of social support on health and wellbeing among women with and without children
an article by Melissa Graham (La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia) published in Journal of Social Inclusion Volume 9 Number 2 (2018)
Abstract
Social support is a significant determinant of health and well-being with poorer social support leading to poorer health outcomes.
Despite this, little is known about the impact of social support on health and well-being among women without children or how this compares to women with children. Drawing on data from 683 women, who participated in both Waves 1 (1997) and 4 (2006) of the Negotiating the Life Course study, aged 28 to 66 years (at Wave 4), regression models were used to examine the relationship between health and well-being and social support by motherhood status (mother or childless).
Dissatisfaction with the number of close friends was associated with poorer general health (rho = -0.23, p < 0.001). Women without children reported poorer general health than mothers even after controlling for potentially confounding variables (Exp(B) = 1.11, 95% CI 1.01 – 1.22).
Not mothering has implications for women’s health. Further investigation of the type, role and quality of social support within kin and non-kin relationships is required to better understand the role of social support on health and if this differs between women with and without children.
Full text (PDF 12pp)
Abstract
Social support is a significant determinant of health and well-being with poorer social support leading to poorer health outcomes.
Despite this, little is known about the impact of social support on health and well-being among women without children or how this compares to women with children. Drawing on data from 683 women, who participated in both Waves 1 (1997) and 4 (2006) of the Negotiating the Life Course study, aged 28 to 66 years (at Wave 4), regression models were used to examine the relationship between health and well-being and social support by motherhood status (mother or childless).
Dissatisfaction with the number of close friends was associated with poorer general health (rho = -0.23, p < 0.001). Women without children reported poorer general health than mothers even after controlling for potentially confounding variables (Exp(B) = 1.11, 95% CI 1.01 – 1.22).
Not mothering has implications for women’s health. Further investigation of the type, role and quality of social support within kin and non-kin relationships is required to better understand the role of social support on health and if this differs between women with and without children.
Full text (PDF 12pp)
Friday, 28 December 2018
Is there a motherhood penalty in retirement income in Europe? The role of lifecourse and institutional characteristics
an article by Katja Möhring (University of Mannheim, Germany) published in Ageing & Society Volume 38 Issue 12 (December 2018)
Abstract
This study examines the retirement income of women in Europe, focusing on the effect of motherhood.
Due to their more interrupted working careers compared to non-mothers and fathers, mothers are likely to accumulate fewer pension entitlements, and consequently, to receive lower incomes in later life. However, pension systems in Europe vary widely in the degree to which they compensate for care-related career interruptions by means of redistributive elements or pension care entitlements.
Therefore, care interruptions may matter for the retirement income of women in some countries, but may be rather irrelevant in others.
On the basis of life history data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARELIFE) for women aged between 60 and 75 years in 13 European countries, the interplay of individual lifecourse characteristics with institutional and structural factors is examined.
The results show that the lower retirement income of mothers is mainly a result of fewer years in employment and lower-status jobs throughout the lifecourse. The analysis of institutional factors reveals that pension care entitlements are not able to provide a compensation for care-related cutbacks in working life.
A generally redistributive design of the pension system including basic or targeted pension schemes, in contrast, appears as an effective measure to balance differences in employment participation over the lifecourse.
Full text (PDF 30pp)
Abstract
This study examines the retirement income of women in Europe, focusing on the effect of motherhood.
Due to their more interrupted working careers compared to non-mothers and fathers, mothers are likely to accumulate fewer pension entitlements, and consequently, to receive lower incomes in later life. However, pension systems in Europe vary widely in the degree to which they compensate for care-related career interruptions by means of redistributive elements or pension care entitlements.
Therefore, care interruptions may matter for the retirement income of women in some countries, but may be rather irrelevant in others.
On the basis of life history data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARELIFE) for women aged between 60 and 75 years in 13 European countries, the interplay of individual lifecourse characteristics with institutional and structural factors is examined.
The results show that the lower retirement income of mothers is mainly a result of fewer years in employment and lower-status jobs throughout the lifecourse. The analysis of institutional factors reveals that pension care entitlements are not able to provide a compensation for care-related cutbacks in working life.
A generally redistributive design of the pension system including basic or targeted pension schemes, in contrast, appears as an effective measure to balance differences in employment participation over the lifecourse.
Full text (PDF 30pp)
Thursday, 4 October 2018
Women's anticipation of the employment effects of motherhood: Evidence and implications
a column by Ilyana Kuziemko, Jessica Pan, Jenny Shen and Ebonya Washington for VIX: CEPR’s Policy Portal
Despite women having surpassed men in earning college degrees, having children later than ever, and accumulating increasing amounts of on-the-job experience, convergence in labour force participation between men and women has stalled.
This column argues that one reason for this is women failing to anticipate the effect that children will have on their careers. The findings also suggest that the employment costs of motherhood have risen unexpectedly, and especially so for educated mothers.
Continue reading
Despite women having surpassed men in earning college degrees, having children later than ever, and accumulating increasing amounts of on-the-job experience, convergence in labour force participation between men and women has stalled.
This column argues that one reason for this is women failing to anticipate the effect that children will have on their careers. The findings also suggest that the employment costs of motherhood have risen unexpectedly, and especially so for educated mothers.
Continue reading
Wednesday, 7 August 2013
Women Scientists and Engineers in European Companies: Putting Motherhood under the Microscope
an article by Clem Herman, Suzan Lewis and Anne Laure Humbert (Open University, Milton Keynes, UK) published in Gender, Work & Organization Volume 20 Issue 5 (September 2013)
Abstract
Unlike the rise in women’s participation in other professional sectors, women still form a minority of professional scientists and engineers, especially in multinational companies. Moreover, embedded gendered cultures in the science, engineering and technology (SET) sectors continue to affect the career progression of professional women, with few women reaching senior management positions and many leaving and failing to return.
This article examines the experiences of women SET professionals in three European companies based in France, The Netherlands and Italy and illustrates how the careers of SET professionals in industry are shaped not only by corporate cultures and practices but also by the specific national contexts in which they live and work.
In particular, we look at how motherhood rather than gender alone is constructed as problematic and propose a model of strategies that women adopt in doing motherhood and SET, including assimilation, cul-de-sac, breaking the mould and lying low.
Abstract
Unlike the rise in women’s participation in other professional sectors, women still form a minority of professional scientists and engineers, especially in multinational companies. Moreover, embedded gendered cultures in the science, engineering and technology (SET) sectors continue to affect the career progression of professional women, with few women reaching senior management positions and many leaving and failing to return.
This article examines the experiences of women SET professionals in three European companies based in France, The Netherlands and Italy and illustrates how the careers of SET professionals in industry are shaped not only by corporate cultures and practices but also by the specific national contexts in which they live and work.
In particular, we look at how motherhood rather than gender alone is constructed as problematic and propose a model of strategies that women adopt in doing motherhood and SET, including assimilation, cul-de-sac, breaking the mould and lying low.
Friday, 18 May 2012
Women’s Work and Working Conditions: Are Mothers Compensated for Lost Wages?
an article by Rebecca Glauber (University of New Hampshire, Durham, USA) published in Work and Occupations Volume 39 Number 2 (May 2012)
Abstract
Few studies have analyzed variation in the motherhood wage penalty by the sex composition of women’s jobs.
This study draws on nationally representative data to investigate the motherhood wage penalty for women who work in female-dominated, male-dominated, and integrated jobs. Fixed-effects estimates reveal that women who work in female-dominated jobs pay a larger motherhood wage penalty than women who work in other jobs. This larger penalty is not offset by measurable compensating differentials, such as flexible scheduling or part-time work hours.
Abstract
Few studies have analyzed variation in the motherhood wage penalty by the sex composition of women’s jobs.
This study draws on nationally representative data to investigate the motherhood wage penalty for women who work in female-dominated, male-dominated, and integrated jobs. Fixed-effects estimates reveal that women who work in female-dominated jobs pay a larger motherhood wage penalty than women who work in other jobs. This larger penalty is not offset by measurable compensating differentials, such as flexible scheduling or part-time work hours.
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