Family, Parenting, and Motherhood: Myth and Reality in Media and Political Discourses and Implications for Social Work

The central focus of this article is how family, parenting, and motherhood are negotiated in media and political discourses. The premise is that these discourses influence social policy and social work practice. In this study 1574 newspaper articles and 251 parliamentary records are investigated by a discourse analysis. Results reveal controversial discourse strands: The »work–life balance issue« is significant in both politics and media, primarily discussed as an issue for mothers, rarely as a couple’s issue, and hardly as a topic concerning fathers. Mothers are expected to be integrated into the labor market due to economic interests but primarily remain mothers. At the same time idealised images of mother-hood persist, although the twofold stress of ideal motherhood alongside work is acknowledged. A stronger integration of fathers in family work is only minimally observed. Economically unattractive care work remains mostly unaddressed, and parenting is not socially situated within the structural con-text. Finally, media and politics strengthen the image of the bourgeois and private family. Parallels can be found in expert discourses on child protection.