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The Intersection of Reproductive, Work-Life Balance and Early-Education and Care Policies: ‘Solo’ Mothers by Choice in the UK and Spain

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  • Ana Bravo-Moreno

    (Social Research Institute, Institute of Education, University College of London, London WC1H 0AA, UK)

Abstract

This article focuses on women who have opted to be mothers on their own by choice in the UK and Spain, and how their access to assisted reproductive technologies in the National Health Service was affected because they were 35 years old or older, forcing them to go to private clinics for their treatment. Having given birth to their children, the participants face a second obstacle: the lack of policies that support work-life balance. A third obstacle also arises, in the form of a lack of childcare and early-education provision, particularly in the UK. The last two obstacles affect the whole population, but they are intensified in the case of solo-mother-families where the mother is responsible for simultaneously being the caregiver and the sole economic provider. Solo motherhood by choice highlights the impact of the absence of these policies, and the inequalities that result from current contemporary conceptualizations of family, woman and early-childhood-care and education. This article draws on ethnographic research that took place in the UK and Spain where I conducted 60 in-depth interviews and participant observations. The aim is to provide an analysis capable of capturing and confronting how inequalities affect women-mothers-workers and their children.

Suggested Citation

  • Ana Bravo-Moreno, 2021. "The Intersection of Reproductive, Work-Life Balance and Early-Education and Care Policies: ‘Solo’ Mothers by Choice in the UK and Spain," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-29, November.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:10:y:2021:i:12:p:458-:d:690895
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Matthias Doepke & Giuseppe Sorrenti & Fabrizio Zilibotti, 2019. "The Economics of Parenting," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 11(1), pages 55-84, August.
    2. Sara de la Rica & Lucía Gorjón, 2016. "The impact of family-friendly policies in Spain and their use throughout the business cycle," IZA Journal of European Labor Studies, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 5(1), pages 1-26, December.
    3. J. Ignacio Conde-Ruiz & Ignacio Marra de Artínano, 2016. "Gender Gaps in the Spanish Labor Market," Studies on the Spanish Economy eee2016-32, FEDEA.
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