Do mothers want professional carers to love their babies?

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    Abstract

    This article reports an aspect of a life historical study which investigated the part that ‘love’ played in mothers’ decision-making about returning to work and placing their babies in day care. The article begins with a brief discussion of the context, including 21st-century policies in England to encourage mothers to return to the workforce (DfES, 2004; HMT, 2009). This is followed by a critical overview of relevant literature exploring three key themes: an historical view of women in the workforce, Attachment Theory, and theorizing ‘love’ and ‘care’. The life-historical methodology is discussed and justified and seven key themes are briefly identified and explained. The article then focuses specifically on the theme of ‘love’ using life-history interview data and key literature to discuss mothers’ views on the importance of ‘love’, the saliency of ‘love’ in choosing childcare, and the notion of ‘professional love’.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)310-323
    JournalJournal of Early Childhood Research
    Volume9
    Issue number3
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 30 Aug 2011

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