The paper aims to identify challenges faced by women with intellectual, psychosocial and sensory disabilities in Lithuania in combining the roles of 'mother' and 'worker'. The paper is based on semi-structured interviews with twenty working mothers with disabilities.
Worldwide, mothers with disabilities face both objective challenges, including health-related issues and limitations and subjective challenges, including negative societal attitudes and stigma (Corrigan, 2007). The sphere of maternity is still driven by stereotypes and women with disabilities can be perceived as 'unsuitable' for maternity (Wolfe and Blanchet, 2000).
This exploratory study confirms the impact of disability on access to and participation in work by mothers with a disability and illuminates how structural inequalities exacerbate that experience (Buckingham et al., 2020). The findings describe the challenges that mothers with all types of disabilities face in the realm of employment and charts how mothers negotiate these experiences with emotion-focussed coping strategies (Folkman and Lazarus, 1988) and self-adaptation (Rout et al., 1997) rather than challenging the system, revealing the internalised oppression (Freire, 1978) and self-sacrifice.
The invisibility of working mothers with disabilities somewhat explains the lack of initiatives for systematic, structural changes in the Lithuanian disability policy, which also mirror the general trends in other post-socialist countries. Therefore, this research could contribute to the change in the disability discourse and multidisciplinary professional practices throughout the region. This has the potential for meaningful practical implications for the lives of working mothers with disabilities.
The paper aims to identify challenges faced by women with intellectual, psychosocial and sensory disabilities in Lithuania in combining the roles of 'mother' and 'worker'. The paper is based on semi-structured interviews with twenty working mothers with disabilities.
Worldwide, mothers with disabilities face both objective challenges, including health-related issues and limitations and subjective challenges, including negative societal attitudes and stigma (Corrigan, 2007). The sphere of maternity is still driven by stereotypes and women with disabilities can be perceived as 'unsuitable' for maternity (Wolfe and Blanchet, 2000).
This exploratory study confirms the impact of disability on access to and participation in work by mothers with a disability and illuminates how structural inequalities exacerbate that experience (Buckingham et al., 2020). The findings describe the challenges that mothers with all types of disabilities face in the realm of employment and charts how mothers negotiate these experiences with emotion-focussed coping strategies (Folkman and Lazarus, 1988) and self-adaptation (Rout et al., 1997) rather than challenging the system, revealing the internalised oppression (Freire, 1978) and self-sacrifice.
The invisibility of working mothers with disabilities somewhat explains the lack of initiatives for systematic, structural changes in the Lithuanian disability policy, which also mirror the general trends in other post-socialist countries. Therefore, this research could contribute to the change in the disability discourse and multidisciplinary professional practices throughout the region. This has the potential for meaningful practical implications for the lives of working mothers with disabilities.
The paper aims to identify challenges faced by women with intellectual, psychosocial and sensory disabilities in Lithuania in combining the roles of 'mother' and 'worker'. The paper is based on semi-structured interviews with twenty working mothers with disabilities.
Worldwide, mothers with disabilities face both objective challenges, including health-related issues and limitations and subjective challenges, including negative societal attitudes and stigma (Corrigan, 2007). The sphere of maternity is still driven by stereotypes and women with disabilities can be perceived as 'unsuitable' for maternity (Wolfe and Blanchet, 2000).
This exploratory study confirms the impact of disability on access to and participation in work by mothers with a disability and illuminates how structural inequalities exacerbate that experience (Buckingham et al., 2020). The findings describe the challenges that mothers with all types of disabilities face in the realm of employment and charts how mothers negotiate these experiences with emotion-focussed coping strategies (Folkman and Lazarus, 1988) and self-adaptation (Rout et al., 1997) rather than challenging the system, revealing the internalised oppression (Freire, 1978) and self-sacrifice.
The invisibility of working mothers with disabilities somewhat explains the lack of initiatives for systematic, structural changes in the Lithuanian disability policy, which also mirror the general trends in other post-socialist countries. Therefore, this research could contribute to the change in the disability discourse and multidisciplinary professional practices throughout the region. This has the potential for meaningful practical implications for the lives of working mothers with disabilities.
Keywords
disability
employment
mothers
