Working mothers

Finding fit between work and family responsibilities is challenging for parents, especially when raising a child with mental health difficulties. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship of children's problematic behaviors to maternal employment and difficulty combining work and family obligations. Data were analyzed from 174 mothers parenting a child with a diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder who completed child problem behavior (child behavior checklist), family functioning, and employment measures at baseline and 12 months later.

In this article we explore temporal and spatial frameworks for analysing the experience of combining caring for children with participation in paid work. We highlight the pressure to undertake paid employment routinely, which places particular strains upon people who are most likely to have to combine caring and working. The authors assert that mothers continue to have the main responsibility for the organization, if not the conduct, of caring work (Sevenhuijsen, 1998).