COMPONENTE BIÓTICO

We use the term ‘work orientation’ to mean the overall extent to which a person is disposed to working or the strength of their motivation to work, for whatever reason or combination of reasons. (Note again, however, that we will not be dealing with the pragmatic factors that play a part in decisions about work and childcare in

this chapter – financial necessity, for example, or the availability of suitable work and childcare; these will be discussed in Chapter 3). Work orientation can be placed on a continuum, with a ‘high’ or ‘strong’ work orientation at one end and a ‘lower’ or ‘weaker’ work orientation at the other. It is also fluid and can change over time in response to changes in a person’s circumstances or attitudes.

2.1.1

Work orientation and personal identity

The parents who can be described as holding the strongest orientation towards work were those for whom work was important for their identity or for how they viewed themselves within society. For these lone parents, work ‘added an extra dimension’ to life – it was about being ‘more than just a mum.’ Work fulfilled personal needs and made them ‘more of an all round person’. Work was productive, ‘challenging’ and ‘mentally stimulating’, and felt like an ‘achievement,’ as if they were actually ‘accomplishing something.’ Typically, these parents felt they needed to be something other than ‘just’ a parent:

‘ …when you’re stuck at home with kids, you’re two people – you’re mummy when the kids are around and then you can be who you are when you’re out. So while I’ve got my kids I’m mummy, and when I haven’t got them I can be J …So I was back to J when I was at work.’

(lone mother of 19-year-old, 17-year-old, eight-year-old and seven-year-old, non-worker)

For some lone parents earning money was related to maintaining a ‘bit of pride’ or ‘self-respect’. For others, paid work was closely related to removing a stigma attached to being on benefits.These lone parents considered themselves not to be the type that ‘asks for handouts.’Earning your own money was also about what was seen as the intrinsic wrong of ‘sitting back and relying on the state’ or ‘sponging off the state.’

For some parents, work was important in relation to their role as provider. Thus, becoming a parent tended to increase work orientation since the income from paid work made them able to have a ‘better standard of living’ or ‘a better lifestyle’ for their children. For some, it was important to make sure their children got ‘the same as the kids over the road.’ For others, the importance of work was closely related to a desire that their children should not have to bear the stigma attached to being on benefits or living on a council estate. Some parents simply considered it their material responsibility to provide for their children:

‘I didn’t think the state should look after my children because the state didn’t say, ‘Have these children.’ I chose to have my children so I chose to make that choice to work.’

2.1.2

The social value of work

Some lone parents did not feel that work was a key element of their personal identity but were nevertheless strongly orientated towards it, typically for the benefits they gained from meeting and mixing with other people. For these parents, staying at home to look after the children was perceived as ‘boring’, ‘at home all day and do[ing] nothing’ or ‘staring at four walls.’ The advantages of work included gaining ‘independence’, ‘confidence’ and ‘self-esteem’, and, for some, work was ‘fun’. Work provided ‘a break’ from the children whilst also being able to have some ‘adult conversation.’ It was a place for mixing with other adults, and, for some, for forming friendships. Work for these parents was a means to prevent, or to combat, social isolation.

2.1.3

The value of ‘worker’ as a role model for children

For some parents, paid work was important in order to provide ‘a good role model’

for their children. These lone parents talked about instilling ‘social responsibility’ in their children and teaching them ‘rights and wrongs’ through the example of paid work. For some, it was also important that their children recognised them as being something more than ‘just’ a parent. These lone parents spoke about wanting their children to be ‘proud’ of them because they were working and ‘serving a purpose’

rather than just looking after them. Thus, working made them change their view of themselves as a parent:

‘I feel [child] respects me more as a working parent. I don’t mean I wasn’t a good mum before I was working, but it gives them values in life that I’m trying my best to work and to get my career.’

(lone mother of nine-year-old, non-worker doing some voluntary work) Some parents also believed that working (and hence, not providing full-time parental childcare) enabled their children to become more ‘independent’ and ‘self- reliant.’ Some talked about the happiness they had experienced as a result of undertaking paid work as reflecting positively on their children – ‘if you’re happy, the kids are going to be happy.’ For some, paid work had also meant that they enjoyed the time they spent with their children more and were less inclined to be ‘impatient and ratty’ with them as a result of feeling frustrated or of spending all their time together. Some said that work enabled them to have more ‘quality time’

with their children. By spending time apart they made the most of the time they had together.