Spoken for or Speaking Up? The Influence of Motherhood on the Labour Force Participation of Dutch women with a Turkish or Moroccan Descent.

Abstract

The labour force participation of women with a Turkish or Moroccan descent in the Netherlands, particularly in Amsterdam, is low, even though their educational level is rising. In this research I will be focussing on women of Turkish and Moroccan descent and their ideas about motherhood and work. I have been involved in the project ‘Kiezen voor Werk?’ and I have met a range of different Turkish and Moroccan women. Their stories have broadened my understanding of their decisions in life and what they consider important. This made me realize once more that the division between ‘them’ and ‘us’ is absolutely not as black and white as it is represented in media and public policy. A more nuanced vision is needed. For this research the main question is: How do Turkish and Moroccan women in the Netherlands navigate their way between their own cultural heritage and their experiences in Dutch culture in relation to motherhood and labour force participation? I will focus particularly on the influence motherhood has on the labour force participation of these women. With this thesis I would first of all like to contribute a more nuanced version of the story to the popular debate about the lacking labour force participation of Turkish and Moroccan women. I will look at the viewpoints of young women with a Turkish or Moroccan descent that follow from the data collected from four large focus groups held for the project ‘Kiezen voor Werk?’ and two additional interviews with Moroccan women. Analysing the data I could distinguish three influential factors on these women’s opinions on motherhood and labour force participation; religion, family and societal factors. Influence of family was most often highlighted by these women and could exist of negative or positive influence of the husband, parents, parents-in-law and other family members. Their focus and therefore mine lays on the influence of family. Furthermore, I will focus on the possible solutions they named for negative influences on women’s labour force participation and on solutions that can be extracted from their experiences. Those solutions show the agency and subjectivity of these women and will help increase the labour participation of women of Turkish and Moroccan descent while respecting their own viewpoints.