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Chapter 7 - Exploring the social biographical patterns of Dutch mothers’ attitudes 
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of other people, since “they receive little validation from society for the work they 
are doing” (Zimmerman, 2000, p.349). Some stories of egalitarian mothers also 
disclosed that ‘traditional’ social environments were reasons for them to move to 
other neighbourhoods, where they were more surrounded by people with similar 
gender attitudes.  This mechanism illustrates that people do not easily adjust their 
attitudes, but rather find ways to reconcile them.  
Recollecting the central question of this chapter, the findings revealed that 
Dutch mothers’ diverse current gender and work attitudes did not arise from 
nowhere, but are grounded in childhood experience. Later situations and social 
interactions can modify the intensity of these attitudes, yet the aspects of attitudes 
that are originated in childhood seem resistant to change, and rather appear to be 
re-enforced.  

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Chapter 8  
Synthesis: overview and discussion  
 
Embedded choices, invisible constraints 
8.1 Introduction 
This research is about Dutch mothers and the origins of their labour market 
behaviour at the beginning of the twenty-first century.  The study is conducted 
against the backdrop of the present narrative of choice, which is a prominent 
element in contemporary public discourse on female employment (Beagan et al. 
2008, p.666). If formal equality is achieved, and childcare facilities and family-
friendly policies are widely provided, and if this is accompanied by processes of 
secularisation, individualization, and the greater acceptance of non-familial roles 
for women and more familial roles for men (Sullivan, 2004), then people would 
tend to believe that women have equal employment opportunities with men, and 
are free to do as they choose. This line of reasoning fits into post-modern theories 
of individualization, which claim that within Western societies, individuals are 
increasingly released from traditional forms and ascribed roles, and are freer than 
ever to choose their own identity (Bauman, 2005; Beck, 1992; Beck and Beck-
Gernsheim, 2003). In addition, if the prevailing opinion is that women’s decisions 
regarding care and work are their own choices, then they will also be held 
responsible for their achievements and failures accordingly (Everingham et al., 
2007). The narrative of choice seems especially applicable in the Netherlands. 
Dutch laws, policies and collective agreements at industry level enable women to 
balance families and careers, by taking advantage of parental work-family 
arrangements and childcare facilities (Hakim, 2003d; Plantenga, 2002; Tijdens, 
2006; Van Doorne-Huiskes and Schippers, 2010). Presumably, women can 
choose whether they want to stay at home with their children, to work at a small 
or large part-time job, or to continue working full-time.   
The principle argument of this study is that the perception that different 
employment choices are based on “free” choices tends to neglect the effect of 
normative beliefs about gender as part of culture at different societal levels 
(micro, meso and macro) on job-relevant aspirations of women (Duncan, 2005; 
Everingham et al., 2007; Ridgeway and Correl, 2004). People’s practices are 
intimately linked to their social biographies and the institutionalised features of 
social systems.  
The picture of the socio-economic historical background of the Netherlands, 
with respect to women’s employment patterns, reveals that Dutch mothers 

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Socialized Choices - Labour Market Behaviour of Dutch Mothers  
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nowadays are predominantly employed in part-time work. They also provide the 
majority of unpaid domestic care work, which in that past was something that 
their own mothers typically took charge of (Bucx, 2011; Haas, 2005; Kloek, 
2009). It is also notable that Dutch institutional care arrangements (such as 
parental leave systems, school opening hours and child-care facilities) combined 
with a moral standard to work part-time, hamper both the stay-at-home and full-
time work options for Dutch mothers (Kremer, 2007; Merens et al., 2012; 
Plantenga, 2002, 2008). The availability of relatively ‘sophisticated’ part-time 
work is mainly perceived as a privilege by Dutch mothers (Tijdens, 2006; Van 
Doorne-Huiskes and Schippers, 2010; Wiesmann et al., 2010), possibly because 
most Western mothers prefer part-time work in order to achieve a work-life 
balance (Jacob, 2008; Fagan, 2001; Reynolds 2003). However, the negative 
consequences of part-time work in terms of salary and career progression are the 
same in the Netherlands as in other affluent countries (Keuzenkamp et al., 2008, 
p.10). The ambiguity of the moral part-time standard for Dutch mothers seems to 
have led to a situation whereby on the surface society portrays there being ‘a free 
choice’ to work part-time, but there also exists an underlying moral expectation to 
work part-time and to only moderately outsource childcare. These implicit norms 
potentially constrain mothers’ career options and their ability to be full-time, stay-
at-home mothers.  
Of special interest is the question as to why Dutch social institutions have not 
led to a homogenous labour market pattern among women with children. 
Although clearly part-time work is the most popular option, a varied pattern is 
visible. The supposed binding morality on a macro level has not lead to similar 
attitudes and behaviours for all mothers. It is argued in this study that mothers 
respond differently in comparable situations, because they have a different 
appreciation and evaluation of similar situations. This study aims to explore the 
social origins of the different values and attitudes that lie underneath these diverse 
perceptions, and so affecting mothers’ decisions. 
The focus of this research is on the social relational backgrounds of mothers’ 
decision-making processes regarding work. The central assumption is that the 
outcome of the decision-making process is not primarily based on current 
conditions, but is more solidly grounded in mothers’ personal social biographies, 
extending as far back as their childhoods. 
The first underlying theoretical assumption is that work preference acts as a 
mediating factor between attitudes and behaviour, and is based on the social 
psychological theory of planned behavior (Ajzen, 1991; Ajzen and Fishbein, 
2005). This theory assumes that most behaviour of interest from a social 
psychological perspective occurs because, in a given situation, a person holds or 
forms a specific intention towards this specific behaviour, which influences her 
subsequent behaviour (Ajzen and Fishbein, 1973; Ajzen, 1991). Secondly, 
intention is, in turn, affected by attitudes toward behaviour
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, the subjective 
                                                           
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   A person's favourable or unfavourable evaluation or appraisal of the specific behaviour. 

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