Research in progress: women's paid work and family life decisions after childbirth

The steady increase in Australian women's labour market participation rate over the last three decades, particularly among women with dependents has received increased attention in paid work and family research, and has spurred new policy debates about paid work and life (Cartwright, 2004; Campbell and Charlesworth, 2004; Pocock, 2003; HREOC, 2002; Samson, 2002). In line with changes in women's lives during this time, concerns have intensified about the disappearing boundary and intensifying conflicts between paid work and family life for women and men (Pocock, 2003). Furthermore, women today are making varied choices about participation in paid work and family life compared to women of previous generations (Himmelweit and Sigala, 2004). This paper provides an overview of the research literature to date on debates around women's paid work and family life decisions after childbirth. For this purpose, the key focus is on Australia and discussion also extends to the UK. The key objective of the paper is to situate the project I am working on in relation to these paid work /family debates. For this project, I am interviewing women who are pregnant, and women who have recently had a child to explore how women come to organise paid work/family life, and how their views of 'choice' may sit with or challenge theoretical debates about agency and structure (Bourdieu, 1977, 1990; Williams, 2000).