Working mothers in Greece during the COVID-19 pandemic: The conceptualization of “good motherhood” in conditions of lock-down and teleworking
Published:
Jul 3, 2023
Keywords:
“good motherhood” working mothers multiple roles pandemic
Abstract
The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in Greece in March 2020 caused many changes in daily life. Mothers’ duties increased dramatically during the pandemic, as external childcare support was practically non-existent. Working mothers had to manage their different roles and identities at the same time, with teleworking becoming mandatory. This article aims to understand how contemporary working mothers in Greece conceptualize “good motherhood”, taking into consideration the particularities of the pandemic. Eight working mothers with children between the ages of 3 and 18 from various parts of Greece responded to a public invitation posted on a popular social media platform. They participated in a semi-structured online interview during which they were invited to talk about their experience of the lock-down in relation to their role as working mothers. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed using the Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). A common theme that emerged from their stories was the experience of loss of control over their lives and possibly a loss of the multiple dimensions of their identity, which appeared to have been reduced to being just a mom. Gender and parenting ideologies present prior to the pandemic continue to affect working mothers’ experiences during the pandemic.
Article Details
- How to Cite
-
Psalti, A., & Antoniou, C. (2023). Working mothers in Greece during the COVID-19 pandemic: The conceptualization of “good motherhood” in conditions of lock-down and teleworking . Psychology: The Journal of the Hellenic Psychological Society, 28(1), 63–77. https://doi.org/10.12681/psy_hps.31518
- Section
- SPECIAL SECTION
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
The journal PSYCHOLOGY adopts a Platinum open-access policy. Submission, processing or publication costs are waived by the Hellenic Psychological Society. Papers published in the journal PSYCHOLOGY are licensed under a 'Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International' licence. The authors reserve the copyright of their work and grant the journal the right of its first publication. Third-party licensees are allowed to use the published paper immediately after publication as they wish, provided they retain the defined by the license copyright formalities, regarding the reference to its author(s) and its initial publication in the journal PSYCHOLOGY. Moreover, any adjusted work should be shared under the same reuse rights, so with the same CC license.
Downloads
Download data is not yet available.
References
Alon, T., Doepke, M., Olmstead-Rumsey, J., & Tertilt, M. (2020). The Impact of COVID-19 on Gender Equality. Retrieved August 31, 2022, from https://ideas.repec.org/p/bon/boncrc/crctr224_2020_163.html
Bateman, N., & Ross, M. (2021, October). Why has COVID-19 been especially harmful for working women? The Brookings Institution. Retrieved on September 26, 2022, from https://www.brookings.edu/essay/why-has-covid-19-been-especially-harmful-for-working-women/
Batram-Zantvoort, S., Wandschneider, L., Niehues, V., Razum, O., & Miani, C. (2022). Maternal self-conception and mental well-being during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. A qualitative interview study through the lens of “intensive mothering” and “ideal worker” ideology. Frontiers in Global Women’s Health, 3, Article 878723. https://doi.org/10.3389/fgwh.2022.878723
Batram-Zantvoort, S., Wandschneider, L., Razum, O., & Miani, C. (2021). Myths of ‘good motherhood’ and the well-being of mothers during the Covid-19 pandemic. European Journal of Public Health, 31(Suppl. 3), 353-354. https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckab165.041
Bowyer, D., Deitz, M., Jamison, A., Taylor, C. E., Gyengesi, E., Ross, J., Hammond, H., Ogbeide, A. E., & Dune, T. (2021). Academic mothers, professional identity and COVID-19: Feminist reflections on career cycles, progression and practice. Gender, Work & Organization, 1– 34. https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.12750
Brower, T. (2021, May 9th). Working moms are struggling: Here’s how to actually celebrate mothers. Forbes. Retrieved on September 26, 2021, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/tracybrower/2021/05/09/working-moms-are-struggling-heres-how-to-actually-celebrate-mothers/?sh=11c13d8d6e74
Brown, S. M., Doom, J. R., Lechuga-Peña, S., Watamura, S. E., & Koppels, T. (2020). Stress and parenting during the global COVID-19 pandemic. Child abuse & neglect, 110(Pt 2), 104699. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2020.104699
Buzzanell, P.M., Meisenbach, R., Remke, R., Liu, M., Bowers, V., & Conn, C. (2005). The good working mother: Managerial women’s sensemaking and feelings about work–family issues. Communication Studies, 56(3), 261-285. https://doi.org/10.1080/10510970500181389
Christopher, K. (2012). Extensive mothering: Employed mothers’ constructions of the good mother. Gender & Society, 26(1), 73-96. https://doi.org/10.1177/0891243211427700
Clark, S., McGrane, A., Boyle, N., Joksimovic, N., Burke, L., Rock, N., & O’ Sullivan, K. (2021). “You’re a teacher you’re a mother, you’re a worker”: Gender inequality during COVID-19 in Ireland. Gender Work Organ, 28, 1352-1362. https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.12611
Collins, C. (2019). Making motherhood work: How women manage careers and caregiving. The Princeton University Press. https://doi.org/10.1515/9780691185156
Cummins, M.W. & Brannon, G.E. (2022). Mothering in a pandemic: Navigating care work, intensive motherhood, and COVID-19. Gender Issues, 39, 123–141. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12147-022-09295-w
Dillaway, H., Haskin, J., & Velding, V. (2015.) Getting past the dream of a bounded life? An analysis of advertisements in Working Mother magazine. International Journal of Gender & Women’s Studies, 3(2), 20-27. https://doi.org/10.15640/ijgws.v3n2a3
Dillaway, H., & Paré, E. (2008). Locating mothers: How cultural debates about stay-at-home and working mothers define women and home. Journal of Family Issues, 29(4), 437-464. https://doi.org/10.1177/0192513X0731
Dillaway, H., & Paré, E. (2021). Reconfiguring Motherhood and Paid Work: The Time- and Space-Based Contexts of COVID-19. Journal of Mother Studies. Retrieved on September 8, 2022, from https://jourms.org/reconfiguring-motherhood-and-paid-work-the-time-and-space-based-contexts-of-covid-19/
Eatough, V., & Smith, J. (2008). Interpretative phenomenological analysis. In C. Willig & W. Stainton-Rogers (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of qualitative research in psychology (pp. 179-194). Sage Publications. https://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781848607927.n11
Ervin, J., Taouk, Y., Alfonzo, L. F., Hewitt, B., & King, T. (2022). Gender differences in the association between unpaid labour and mental health in employed adults: a systematic review. The Lancet. Public health, 7(9), e775–e786. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2468-2667(22)00160-8
Freundel, C. (2021). Unprecedented times?: Analyzing the experiences of mothers during the COVID-19 Pandemic using a disaster sociology framework. Hamilton Digital Commons. Retrieved on June 27, 2022, from https://digitalcommons.hamilton.edu/student_scholarship/39
Friedman, M., Kostka Lichtfuss, K., Martignetti, L., & Gingras, J. (2021). “It feels a bit like drowning”: Expectations and experiences of motherhood during COVID-19. Atlantis, 42(1), 47–57. https://doi.org/10.7202/1082015ar
Gajewski, M. (2020, June 19). Moms are not okay: Pandemic triples anxiety and depression symptoms in new mothers. Forbes. Retrieved on September 26, 2022, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/mishagajewski/2020/06/19/moms-are-not-okay-coronavirus-pandemic-triples-anxiety-and-depression-in-new-mothers/?sh=3348605048ce
Goodwin, S.L., & Huppatz, K. (2010). The good mother in theory and research: An overview. In S. Goodwin & K. Huppatz (Eds.), The Good Mother: Contemporary Motherhoods in Australia (pp. 1-24). University of Sydney: Sydney University Press. Retrieved on September 12, 2022, from https://ses.library.usyd.edu.au/bitstream/handle/2123/6627/chapterone_Goodmother.pdf;jsessionid=2D061C2B42933CF9603D0115C86E6D76?sequence=1
Gross, T. (2020). Pandemic makes evident ‘grotesque’ gender inequality in household work. In NPR, (1–1). Retrieved on September 9, 2022, from https://www.npr.org/2020/05/21/860091230/pandemic-makes-evident-grotesque-gender-inequality-in-household-work
Güney-Frahm, I. (2020). Neoliberal motherhood during the pandemic: some reflections. Gender, Work and Organization, 27, 847–56. https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.12485
Guy B. & Arthur, B. (2020). Academic motherhood during COVID-19: Navigating our dual roles as educators and mothers. Gender, Work and Organization, 27, 887–899. https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.12493
Hadjicharalambous, D., Athanasiadi-Charchanti, D., & Demetriou, L. (2021). The impact of the Covid-19 social isolation measures on the resilience and quality of life of working mothers. Social Education Research, 2(1), 41–51. https://doi.org/10.37256/ser.212021619
Hays, S. (1996). The cultural contradictions of motherhood. Yale University Press.
Hillier, K.M., & Greig, C.J. (2020). Motherhood and mothering during COVID-19: A gendered intersectional analysis of caregiving during the global pandemic within a Canadian context. Journal of Mother Studies, 5(1). Retrieved on September 29, 2022 from https://jourms.wordpress.com/motherhood-and-mothering-during-covid-19-gendered-intersectional-analysis-of-caregiving-during-the-global-pandemic-within-a canadian-context/
Intrabartola, L. (February 14, 2022). “COVID motherhood penalty” set working moms back. Rutgers Today. Retrieved on July 2, 2022, from: https://www.rutgers.edu/news/covid-motherhood-penalty-set-working-moms-back
Issari, P., & Pourkos, M. (2015). Qualitative research methodology [Undergraduate textbook]. Kallipos, Open Academic Editions. http://hdl.handle.net/11419/5826
Johnston, R.M., Anwar, M., & van der Linden, C. (2020). Evidence of exacerbated gender inequality in child care obligations in Canada and Australia during the COVID-19 pandemic. Politics and Gender, 16, 1131-1141. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1743923X20000574
Joyce, A. & McCarthy, E. (2020, October 30). Working moms are not okay. The New York Times. Retrieved on September 26, 2022, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/on-parenting/working-moms-covid-pandemic-jobs/2020/10/29/e76a5ee0-0ef5-11eb-8a35-237ef1eb2ef7_story.html
Kira, I.A. (2021). Taxonomy of stressors and traumas: An update of the development-based trauma framework (DBTF): A life-course perspective on stress and trauma. Traumatology. Online First. https://doi.org/10.1037/trm0000305
Khodabakhshi-Koolaee, A., & Aghaei Malekabadi, M. (2020). Motherhood and home quarantine: Exploring the experiences of Iranian mothers in caring for their children during the COVID-19 outbreak. Journal of Client-Centered Nursing Care, 6(2), 87-96. https://doi.org/10.32598/JCCNC.6.2.33.8
Liu, N., Zhang, F., Wei, C., Jia, Y., Shang, Z., Sun, L., Wu, L., Sun, Z., Wang, Y., & & Liu, W. (2020). Prevalence and predictors of PTSS during COVID-19 outbreak in China hardest-hit areas: Gender differences matter. Psychiatry research, 287, 112921. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2020.112921
Lott, Y., & Abendroth, A. K. (2020). The non-use of telework in an ideal work culture: Why women perceive more cultural barriers. Community, Work, and Family, 23(5), 593–611. https://doi.org/10.1080/13668803.2020.1817726
Lott, Y. & Klenner, C. (2018). Are the ideal worker and ideal parent norms about to change? The acceptance of part-time and parental leave at German workplaces. Community, Work, and Family, 21(5), 564–580. https://doi.org/10.1080/13668803.2018.1526775
Malkawi, S. H., Almhdawi, K., Jaber, A. F., & Alqatarneh, N. S. (2021). COVID-19 quarantine-related mental health symptoms and their correlates among mothers: A cross sectional study. Maternal and Child Health Journal, 25(5), 695–705. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-020-03034-x
Maestripieri, L. (2021). The Covid-19 pandemics: Why intersectionality matters. Frontiers in Sociology, 6, 642662. https://doi.org/10.3389/fsoc.2021.642662
Miller, R.D. (2022). Breadwinner mothers of school-aged children during COVID-19: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Dissertations, 1158. https://irl.umsl.edu/dissertation/1158
Moussourou, L. K. (2003). Sociology of contemporary family. Gutenberg
O’ Sullivan, K., Rock, N., Burke, L., Boyle, N., Joksimovic, N., Foley, H., & Clark, S. (2022). Gender differences in the psychosocial functioning of parents during the COVID-19 pandemic. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, article 846238. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.846238
Panagiotopoulou, D. & Papadopoulou, K. (2021). Impact of the COVID-19 quarantine on young children’s family-based daily activities in Greece. Journal of Educational and Developmental Psychology, 11(2), 1-56. https://doi.org/10.5539/jedp.v11n2p56
Paré, E. (2016). Mothering in an increasingly uncertain economic marketplace: Revisiting the call for broader conceptualizations of parenthood and paid work. Michigan Family Review, 20(1), 26-36. https://doi.org/10.3998/mfr.4919087.0020.105
Pietkiewicz, I., & Smith, J. (2014). A practical guide to using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis in qualitative research psychology. Csazopismo Psychologiczne/Psychological Journal, 20(1), 7-14. https://doi.org/10.14691/CPPJ.20.1.7
Power, K. (2020). The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the care burden of women and families. Sustainability: Science, Practice and Policy, 16(1), 67-73. https://doi.org/10.1080/15487733.2020.1776561
Prime, H., Wade, M., & Browne, D. T. (2020). Risk and resilience in family well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. American Psychologist, 75(5), 631. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000660
Rohl, K. (2021). Working mothers navigate identity & authenticity during the COVID-19 pandemic. Graduate Theses and Dissertations, 98. https://pilotscholars.up.edu/etd/98
Ségeral, N. (2020). Academic single mothering during a pandemic. Journal of the Motherhood Initiative for Research and Community Involvement. Retrieved on July 2, 2022 from https://jarm.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/jarm/article/view/40611
Smith, J. A. & Osborn, M. (2003). Interpretative phenomenological analysis. In J.A. Smith (Ed.), Qualitative Psychology: A Practical Guide to Research Methods (chapter 4). Sage Publications.
Social Issues Research Center (2012). The changing face of motherhood in Western Europe: Greece. Retrieved on September 21, 2022, from http://www.sirc.org/publik/motherhood_cross-cultural_perspectives.pdf
Tsouroufli, M. (2020). Gendered and classed performances of ‘good’ mother and academic in Greece. European Journal of Women’s Studies, 27(1), 9–24. https://doi.org/10.1177/1350506818802454
Usher, K., Bhullar, N., Durkin, J., Gyamfi, N., & Jackson, D. (2020). Family violence and COVID-19: Increased vulnerability and reduced options for support. International journal of mental health nursing, 29(4), 549–552. https://doi.org/10.1111/inm.12735
Wandschneider, L., Batram-Zantvoort, S., Alaze, A., et al. (2022). Self-reported mental well-being of mothers with young children during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany: A mixed-methods study. Women’s Health, 18. https://doi.org/10.1177/17455057221114274
Whiley, L.A., Sayer, H., & Juanchich, M. (2021). Motherhood and guilt in a pandemic: Negotiating the “new” normal with a feminist identity. Gender, Work & Organization, 28(S2), 612– 619. https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.12613
Willig, C. (2015). Qualitative research in psychology: Introduction (in Greek). Gutenberg.
World Health Organization (WHO). (2020). Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. https://www.euro.who.int/en/health-topics/health-emergencies/coronavirus-COVID-19/novel coronavirus-2019-ncov
Zhou, X. (2020). Managing psychological distress in children and adolescents following the COVID-19 epidemic: A cooperative approach. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 12(S1), S76–S78. https://doi.org/10.1037/tra0000754
