The legitimizing discourses on the work of working mothers in Spain

Abstract

This article presents the results of two qualitative research applied during the Spanish economic crisis based on 47 semi-structured interviews conducted to working mothers of different social backgrounds. This group experiences the permanent and unavoidable relation between employment and family throughout everyday between different works with its precarious and resilient constraints. Their discourses make comprehensible their social position and validate subjectively their path and resistance in accordance with distinct values in spite of having a standard of living according to their social class. The sources of legitimization to develop in these different worlds are diverse and these women use them when they need it, shaping their speeches according to their subjectivity, approval and recognition.