Years of the research: 2010 - 2012
Country: Czech Republic
Language: Czech
Keywords:
Abstract:
Many Vietnamese families in the Czech Republic hire Czech nannies to look after their children. Usually they are young retirees who find themselves at a new life stage, passing from a productive to an “unproductive” age. Drawing upon in-depth interviews with Czech nannies in Vietnamese families, this article looks into how Czech nannies understand paid caregiving work as an inherent part of their retirement. I trace their understanding of the meaning of care in the context of their biographies. The study finds that this caregiving work is inherently connected with retirement and makes it easier for women to retire and adapt to their new life situation. In addition, caregiving work becomes part of the identity of these women, allowing them to do gender and to do grand motherhood. For the interviewed women, caregiving becomes the main recourse of doing gender and the core activity structuring their gendered biographies.
Researchers:
Target group: Retired women working as nannies
Sample:
N=8
Aims/Objectives/Background:
To explore the approach of Czech nannies in retirement to paid caregiving. The paper offers insight into women’s strategies of dealing with retirement and negotiating their new identities against the background of culturally-defined standards and societal expectations.
Findings/outcome/conclusion/research questions:
The caregiving role of retired women brings various meanings into lives these women.
Online publication/reports/links:
http://socstudia.fss.muni.cz/sites/default/files/05_Peci_o_deti_proti_nude_a_osamelosti_Souralova.pdf
Financed by: Institutional support of research
Contact person: Souralová, Adéla - http://www.muni.cz/people/144154?lang=cs
Copyright
“The Central and Eastern European Active Ageing Network database is protected by copyright law, under international agreements and the EC Database Directive 96/9/EC. The owner of the database is the Institute of Mental Health of Semmelweis University and the University of Debrecen Faculty of Health. Reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is not permitted without the prior written authorization of the [owner].”