Mothers’ perceptions of support in the workplace: A sense of entitlement or resignation?

Abstract

This article investigates mothers’ ‘sense of entitlement’ to workplace supports for family responsibilities. While ‘family-friendly’ workplace provisions have become more prevalent alongside the increasing labour force engagement of mothers, the notion of an ‘ideal worker’ unencumbered by family responsibilities continues to inform practice in many workplaces. Potential indicators of, and pressures for, change include employees’ sense of entitlement to provisions that challenge ideal-worker norms. Using a justice-based approach, our research sought accounts of a sense of entitlement to family-supportive arrangements among mothers working in relatively high-status occupations in Australia. We found a sense of injustice over the absence of family-supportive arrangements, but also a sense of resignation to barriers encountered and a tendency to interpret these as personal problems. Our findings suggest that considerable change is needed before effective work/family supports become part of Australian working parents’ normal expectations, and raise questions about the interventions needed to achieve such an outcome.