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Home > Catholic Social Teaching > Motherhood and Career
Can a mother spend enough time with her children and also advance far in her career? At a time when birth rates are plunging and pressure to succeed in a competitive society is so high, it is a question worth asking.
In the past, there was a clear division of roles. Fathers would earn money by taking on jobs, while mothers would stay at home to do chores and take care of the children. Today, there is a widespread recognition that women should be able to pursue careers they want and progress far in them. But if household management took up all the time that women had in the past, why should we expect mothers today to be able to do both with the same 24 hours in a day?
According to the Catholic social teaching tradition, women have equal dignity to men, and so women should have the same level of access to jobs. Furthermore, women should be able to advance in their careers without sacrificing their family commitment to their children. But this can only be done by changing how work is structured. The recent law passed to increase paternity leave is a step in the right direction to balance the responsibilities shared by men and women. If women are taking up a greater share of responsibility in making ends meet, then men surely need to have a larger role in household management, especially in the matter of raising children.
See why the Church has taught that women should not have to choose between career and family.
Reflect: Should women be able to have both motherhood and career progression at the same time? How far should we go to ensure this can happen?
While the Church does affirm that work is good and necessary, the Church does not teach that women (and men) must have a career progression or even a job. This might seem strange, but the Church differentiates between work and a job. One does not need to have a job in order to be able to work. Examples include homemakers and caregivers. There have been suggestions that work like these should be considered in the calculation of a country's productivity. While this might happen only in the distant future, there are signs that such types of labour are increasingly considered as "real" work. For instance, a high court in India recognised a homemaker's contribution and share in her husband's income by allowing her to have an equal share in her husband's property.
See what the Church has said about why work is good, necessary and a right as well as how work is not necessarily a job.
Reflect: What do I feel about unpaid work such as caregiving and household chores? Can I recognise dignity in such types of work?