Abstract
The gender gap in the division of childcare in heterosexual couples is at the origin of women’s difficulties in balancing paid work with family responsibilities. The work aimed at analysing the expectations of couples living the transition to parenthood with the purpose of disclosing the discursive practices related to the work-family balance. In order to identify the expectations over the division of childcare and the plans for balancing paid work and family responsibilities, twenty couples were interviewed during the third trimester of pregnancy. Results revealed that couples referred to an essentialist view of gender according to which women are the main responsible for childcare; for some couples, this view runs counter the expectation of an egalitarian division of childcare. When the mother is responsible for childcare, she is the sole responsible for the work-family balance. Results highlighted the need for interventions aimed at deconstructing discourses that reproduce gender asymmetries in the division of childcare.
Highlights
In order to identify the expectations over the division of childcare and the plans for balancing paid work and family responsibilities, twenty interviews were carried out to couples during the third trimester of pregnancy
Results revealed that couples referred to an essentialist view of gender according to which women are naturally destined to be responsible for childcare; for some couples, this view runs counter the expectation of an egalitarian division of childcare
When the mother is responsible for childcare, she is the only responsible for the work-family balance
Summary
The gender gap in the division of childcare in heterosexual couples is at the origin of women’s difficulties in balancing paid work with family responsibilities. Sebbene oggi sia comune l’aspirazione a una divisione egualitaria del carico familiare, spesso le persone riproducono nei loro discorsi tesi che richiamano una visione binaria del genere facendo sì, in tal modo, che i loro ideali non possano tradursi in pratica; ad esempio, diverse ricerche hanno mostrato che fare riferimento alla naturale predisposizione delle donne per le attività di cura, al presunto legame naturale tra madre e figlio, o a “ragioni pratiche”, come la possibilità per l’uomo di guadagnare più della sua partner, può servire per giustificare l’attribuzione alla madre di maggiori responsabilità nel lavoro di cura (Blain, 1994; Edley e Wetherell, 1999). A partire da tali considerazioni, la presente ricerca ha analizzato i discorsi delle coppie che vivono per la prima volta la transizione alla genitorialità con l’obiettivo di svelare le pratiche discorsive (Billig, 1987; Potter e Wetherell, 1987) legate alla conciliazione della cura della prole con il lavoro retribuito
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