Published April 29, 2022 | Version v1
Journal article Open

Still waters run deep: The invisible life of working mothers with disabilities in Lithuania

  • 1. Vilnius University
  • 2. Maynooth University

Description

This article explores the challenges faced by women with disabilities in combining the roles of ‘mother’ and ‘worker’ in Lithuania and reflects on the strategies mothers employed to overcome these. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with twenty women with a variety of (dis)abling conditions and diverse life experiences between 2014 and 2018. In-depth thematic analysis by qualitative research teams revealed a constant tension in women’s aspirations to have a family and work. This revealed women’s enormous personal resources which facilitated them to overcome challenges they faced in motherhood as well as seemingly insurmountable obstacles to employment. However, within the vicious circle of social and economic challenges, they fought their battles with silent compliance, which hid their experiences and potentially denied them opportunities for support. This research reveals a policy response in Lithuania that categorises disability as an individual issue to be overcome rather than a socially constructed experience. The findings indicate the need for reframing understanding at macro, as well as micro-level policy interventions. At the micro-level, sensitive forms of professional support would help mothers with disabilities to choose more pronounced strategies of coping while also maintaining their dignity and privacy. These findings provide insights into the specific situation of women in Lithuania but are also relevant to many other contexts. 

Notes

The collaborative work for this paper has received funding through the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 952366.

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Additional details

Funding

MotherNet – Developing a new Network of Researchers on Contemporary European Motherhood 952366
European Commission