Policies Help Women Balance Work-Family Life, Study Shows

Mother cares for her twins while on nationally-mandated maternity leave in Stockholm, Sweden. Photo by Caity Collins, Department of Sociology AUSTIN, Texas - Various Western nations' work-family policies leave many working mothers feeling unsupported as both caretakers and workers, according to a comparative study of working mothers in multiple countries by The University of Texas at Austin. "Work-family policies reflect and reinforce ideologies about gender: what men and women 'should' and 'shouldn't' do," said study author Caitlyn Collins, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Sociology at UT Austin. "Through policies, countries say something about their citizens and shape the opportunities available to them." In her research, Collins ed 135 middle-income working mothers in the U.S. Germany, Italy and Sweden to understand their experiences balancing motherhood and employment. Each country represented one of four recognized work-family welfare models Western countries implemented as more women began entering the workforce: liberal (U.S.), conservative (Germany), Mediterranean (Italy), and social-democratic (Sweden). Liberal states privatize the provision of social support, conservative states split welfare responsibilities between public and private sectors, Mediterranean states' social welfare systems are highly fragmented, and social-democratic states take full responsibility for citizen welfare. Collins found that outside of Sweden, where most working mothers felt supported as both mothers and employees, the majority of working mothers experienced uncertainty and tension between being a mother and a paid worker.