The value of parenting: gendered time expectations among the Spanish middle class

Abstract

This paper analyses the gendered expectations of time of Spanish middle-class parents. The main goal is to understand how parents value their parenting time. Parents embody a specific social structuring of the everyday that is both gendered and individualist. The claim of this paper is that the value of parenting time, despite being expressed in individual terms, is shaped by gendered social expectations. The methodological strategy includes the conduction of semi-structured interviews and participatory photography. The qualitative sample is composed of 28 professional parents with children under three living in Barcelona. The results reveal gendered time expectations happen outside negotiation. They are not a strategic outcome, but the relational consequence of the structured value of time in capitalist societies.