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Socialized Choices - Labour Market Behaviour of Dutch Mothers  
92 
mother figure, and had an idyllic picture of motherhood when they were young, 
sitting down with their children while playing with toys. And now they are not 
disappointed and do not consider motherhood as a burden, although they do admit 
that having the children around all day often makes them physically more tired 
than working all day. The mothers always thought they would stop working if 
they had children, but they like their jobs, and have found that it is not necessary 
to stop working altogether, because their parents do their share or their husbands 
help out, together with a few days professional day care. The interviewees would 
never take their children to the crèche too often, as that would be considered a 
failure to their children, and is often not something that they were used to 
themselves when they were young either.  
3. 
Mothers with large part-time jobs (25-35 hours): Balancers 
Narrative of choice 
The narrative of the mothers with large part-time jobs is that they try to balance 
their desires to be both good mothers and good workers. They tend to really enjoy 
their work and motherhood: Work is essential, caring is important. The sense of 
self-agency among this group towards work is high. There are examples of 
mothers who are able to change their life paths when things happened that they 
disliked. Like Sophie who once gave up a job where she had to share an office 
with a colleague who smoked three packs a day, and than there was a friend who 
said: “Why don’t you start your own business?” She thought: “Anything’s better 
than this, I just want to go”. So she left the job and started out on her own. Or 
Juul who realises, “I have actually often done the things that people advised me 
against. But I was strong-headed.”  
However, their ‘choice’ of work hours (generally 32 hours), which 
corresponds with their preferred number of work hours, is also characterised by 
the social expectations to work part-time and not full-time.  
“In my work it is an exception to work three days, but also to work five days” 
(Medina). 
“It seemed fun to be one day alone with your child, yet I also did not quite 
dare to continue working full-time.”  
Have you talked to someone about it?  
“Yes. But you don’t have to say much, because everyone assumes 
automatically that you will work less” (Juul).  
“Jan finds it okay that I started working less. I think that for him it was quite 
nice, he got more leeway then: because he really likes to work a lot” (Alice).  

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Chapter 3 - A qualitative typology of Dutch mothers’ employment narratives 
93 
Work attitude 
The women in this group, as in the previous groups, have positive attitudes 
towards work. Actually all these mothers agree that work gives a sense of self-
identity and self-dignity. Yet, in this latter group, mothers also mention a motive 
that was remarkably absent in the previous two groups, namely their economic 
independence. Although sometimes they work because of financial necessity, 
they never only work for the money. They also share the conviction that women 
should be financially independent, otherwise: What would you do if you ended up 
alone? They consider it rather naïve where women do not find this important.  
Balancing mothers also narrate that they made early adult choices in relation 
to their education and profession. “After a two-hour lecture in philosophy, I felt 
immediately, I belong there. I actually had it quite worked out, when I think about 
it” (Juul). Sometimes the mothers describe how they were encouraged by other 
people, because of role models of women in the media, family members who had 
the same profession, stimulating teachers, sometimes supporting friends, but they 
also refer to bugbears.  
“To work in a shoe shop, the thought of that made me sick, horrible. Yet I had 
no legs up, no network. I thought it has to work, otherwise my life could fail 
[…] I thought if I earn my own money with designing, I have succeeded in 
life” (Sophie).  
However, often it is that case that the occupations they are doing now in one 
that they fell into, and was not part of a planned career. And some mothers 
confess that if they had the chance to plan their professional path again, they 
would make different choices, and given a second chance would want to be a 
scientist, a doctor, a psychologist, something more artistic, or to have their own 
company.  
“Somewhere in that period I have been put on a different track, now I think 
why didn’t I stick to my own one” (Alice).  
Or Cathy, who describes herself as a real entrepreneur, and that’s what she 
always will be. However, if she could start over a again, she would prefer to be a 
doctor.  Mothers did not follow their ‘real’ dream for a variety of reasons, but two 
overwhelmingly prevailed: either they fell in love or they needed or wanted 
money. As a result, their dream careers just didn’t happen.   
However most mothers are not unsatisfied with their present occupations, and 
think they are doing reasonably well. They suppose that if they wanted to climb 
higher on the professional ladder, they would have to give up a lot, especially in 
relation to the care of their children, which is something they would dislike. The 
mothers are often proud of their jobs, and people around them envy them, 
because of the interesting or attractive work they are doing, or because of the time 
schedule and flexibility of their work. 

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