Parenthood as work

[caption id="attachment_4082" align="alignright" width="197"] Copyright: transcript Verlag[/caption]Wibke Derboven has written a book about "Parenthood as work". Anna (Care Revolution Hamburg) and Jette (Care Revolution Berlin) spoke to her about it.Question: We would like to talk to you about your book "Elternschaft als Arbeit". Perhaps you could start by telling us how you personally came to research parenthood? And what do you actually mean by parenthood? I'm sure many people only think of biological mothers and fathers when they think of parenthood, but there are many different types of parenthood. Who do you mean when you talk about parents?W.D.: Ever since I had my own children, I have missed the appropriate level of attention and appreciation from society for the achievements of parents. Then I had the opportunity to find a space in my then working group "Work - Gender - Technology" at the university where I could expand my everyday understanding with a scientific perspective. I am very grateful for this, and by parents I mean people who look after children or young people, or people of a younger generation in general, in a private capacity, i.e. not for gainful employment. The degree of biological kinship doesn't play a role here, the central aspect is the responsible caring for people of a younger generation.Question: So now that we've talked about parenthood, the second major component of your research remains: parenthood as (unpaid) work. Why do you talk about parenthood as work and what constitutes this type of unpaid care work in particular?W.D.: For a very long time, I have had an everyday understanding that, firstly, interprets caring for children as work and, secondly, considers the current focus on paid work in our society - when it comes to performance, recognition, but also shaping the framework conditions - to be inappropriate and unjust. It is also a traditional feminist perspective, which has ultimately also become established in society, to describe unpaid domestic and caring activities as work. With this study, I would like to implement this perspective in an analytically consistent manner and look at the activities of parents with central dimensions of work, as described by the sociology of work. I would like to answer the question of what constitutes this work with a passage from the book: "Family care work for children is interactive and collaborative work aimed at exerting influence, which is self-organised and unpaid. The preparation of children in and for a meritocratic society determines family care work for children. This involves high demands, the fulfilment of which requires a high degree of personal stability, in particular mental strength and subjectively perceived exemplary behaviour." (p.145)Question: We live in a society that is characterised by social inequality. Accordingly, the conditions under which people experience parenthood are also very different. How people can organise parenthood depends, for example, on their income and social status. Racism and sexism characterise assumptions and stereotypes about parents. People with certain disabilities have to overcome resistance in order to become parents at all, etc. What social inequalities have you encountered in your research and how have they manifested themselves? And are there also problems with which all parents are equally confronted? W.D.: Social inequalities are taken into account in this study in particular by the fact that parents with different socio-economic living conditions were interviewed (based on the reproduction models according to Winker 2015). The results show that parents realise very different ways of working, which are strongly related to the respective socio-economic conditions and the child's respective need for attention. This also results in different problem situations, although all parents experience a lack in one form or another: depending on the framework conditions, they suffer from a lack of time, money or mental strength. However, a migration background can also lead to specific problems. For example, it is particularly stressful for parents with a visible migrant background to find themselves in public situations in which it is no longer possible to present themselves inconspicuously because, for example, a defiant child needs to be dealt with. They fear and experience stigmatisation in such situations.Question: Have you also spoken to parents about your book? How do they feel about seeing parenting as work?W.D.: Broadly speaking, there are two poles of reaction. Many parents have said with great emotion: "At last someone is saying that it is work." But just as many parents are also very sceptical about the concept of work and have said: "I inwardly refuse to describe what I do for my children as work. That would only put an additional burden on me." I have sought a way out of this dilemma by differentiating between an objectified and a perceived understanding of work. This recognises that, on the one hand, it is socially necessary to describe much of what parents do as work, but that, on the other hand, it is just as necessary to provide parents with a complementary terminology for their subjective experience.Question: What do parents like about this work and where do they experience problems? According to your findings, what framework conditions, what support and what changes do parents want and need in order to be able to achieve parenthood? W.D.: Parents urgently need time, mental strength, money, co-parenting co-operation partners and a high degree of personal stability. At this point, I would also like to respond with a quote from the book: "Particularly because of the great importance of personal stability, family care work for children is a special kind of work that needs and deserves special social attention, good social conditions and appropriate social recognition. After all, personal stability is not unconditional, but requires a good life that involves participation in society and an appreciative social environment. (p. 148/9)Question: The goal of Care Revolution is - generally speaking - a society in which care work is at the centre. We want to develop the steps towards this goal in solidarity with paid and unpaid care workers and care recipients. Do you see starting points for such solidarity when it comes to parenthood?W.D.: In a performance-orientated society, the risk of competition between parents is considerable. The knowledge that not everyone is given a place in society that enables a good life is a great burden for parents and certainly also prevents all parents from acting as a community of solidarity. Merkle et al (2008), for example, speak of parents promoting a "new kind of class society" by realising very different care and parenting practices. At the moment, it is very common to accuse each other of failings: School against parents and vice versa, parents against parents etc. The high pressure of worry creates an unfavourable climate of blame, competition, comparison and excessive demands. Nevertheless, I do see starting points for solidarity. The most important step is to recognise that caring for children is hard work, to name the demands and to support everyone involved. In order to care for children calmly and powerfully, parents and all other people and institutions involved need a society based on solidarity that takes greater account of people's dependence on people in its framework conditions than is currently the case.Thank you very much for the interview!Reviewed book:

• Derboven, Wibke 2019: Parenthood as work. Family care behaviour for children. A sociological analysis of work. Transcript

Further literature mentioned:

• Merkle, Tanja; Wippermann, Carsten; Henry-Huthmacher, Christine; Borchard, Michael (2008): Parents under pressure. Self-perceptions, sensitivities and needs of parents in different environments. Stuttgart: Lucius & Lucius.
• Winker, Gabriele (2015): Precarisation processes in the social reproduction crisis, in: Völker, Susanne/Amacker, Michèle (eds.): Prekarisierungen. Labour, Care and Politics, Weinheim, Basel, 75-92.