DRAWING ON A FEMINIST materialist framework, this paper explores the resistance of workers in Australian childcare settings to the conditions of their work, and the perceptions of its value in the wider community. I argue that such resistance often goes unrecognised because of the constraints under which it is practiced, as a result of a distinctively gendered and classed workforce. I explore three forms of this resistance—dis-ease, subversion and foot-dragging—and how these represent different responses to the same dilemma, a search for recognition of effort and skills in this work. I conclude by suggesting that this recognition is vital to the wellbeing not just of workers, but to the entire childcare system.
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