Perceptions of women in the informal economy on childcare practices in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal.
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Date
2021
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Abstract
Women working in the informal sector need quality childcare services to be productive in their work
and make enough money to provide for their children and the household. Women are facing dual
responsibilities, that is, productive and reproductive work, which are often in conflict with each other.
Poor working conditions, the absence of social protection and low incomes hinder women’s ability to
best care for their children. The aim of this study was to obtain informally working women’s
perceptions on how they care for their children while pursuing their livelihood. This study adopted a
qualitative approach where in-depth interviews were conducted with 28 women who had children
between 0-5 years and with three key informants from the Department of Social Development. Twelve
of 28 mothers were taken from a cohort longitudinal study consisting of 24 participants. A thematic
analysis was performed where the researcher developed coding themes based on the study
objectives. All research protocols were observed.
Results showed that women were struggling to balance work and childcare. Financial needs forced
women to invest most of their time in paid work. This affected childcare practices such as feeding and
the mother-child relationship. Most mothers who had children aged 0-6 months failed to adhere to
feeding practices as recommended by the World Health Organization, namely, to breastfeed infants
for six months before introducing complementary foods. Mothers who were able to adhere to those
recommendations took six months off work, or worked with the child or expressed breast milk to feed
the child when away from the baby. Mothers were working long hours with most of them working
between five to seven days a week. Some of the mothers were not living with their children. Family
members, non-relatives and crèches assisted mothers in caring for the child while mothers were at
work. Some mothers were working with their children, particularly home-based workers and
breastfeeding mothers. While mothers with children older than three years used crèches during the
day (08h00-16h00), family members or neighbours took over childcare until the mother returned from
work.
The study concludes that lack of income compromised childcare practices among informally working
women. Although mothers had people assisting them with childcare, the quality of mother-child
relationship was adversely affected. According to attachment theory, this means that the children of
such a population are experiencing maternal deprivation which has a life-long effect. The study
recommends that financial assistance during the early part of a child’s life is required among informally
working women to promote optimum childcare. Furthermore, affordable but quality childcare
services must be available to such women to promote early childhood development and prevent
intergenerational poverty.
Description
Masters Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.