Ciudadanía y cuidado en España: El dilema trabajo/familia según las madres trabajadoras

The female work participation and the growing interest of men towards children care has been interpreted as an evidence of progress in gender equality. However, the allocation of conciliation resources remains limited, in spite of the increasing demand for care services for the dependent. This work presents the results of two consecutive qualitative investigations on 47 Spanish working mothers from different social classes in the context of the current economic crisis, thus seeking to delve into the conditions to take care of their minor children. The results show the existence of a gap between the conciliation discourse and the experience of these mothers. These women strive to bridge this gap through an attempt to overcome the work-family dilemma. This group of female workers interprets this dilemma as a complex system of responsibilities and rights, which are shared by an array of social actors. In order to achieve this goal, this system of rights and responsibilities requires a range of conciliation resources that would modify the influence of gender over social rights.