Work-family Conflict among Rural Working Mothers in Western Ghana: A phenomenological study

Work-family research implicitly carries an urban bias which often frames and universalizes the experiences of workers across the globe. To date, there is a critical paucity of research on rural experiences of work-family intersections. In line with recent calls to expand the scope of work-family scholarship to incorporate diverse realities and experiences of work-family intersections outside the often-studied Global North, this study addresses this significant research gap and argues that there is the need to shift attention to workers and their families in rural societies, where the organisational, professional and urban-centred focus of work-family research is yet to penetrate. Generally, rural societies in Africa generally have a distinct character vis-`a-vis urban areas including the close-knit family relations and longstanding extended family systems, limited formal employment opportunities, predominant agrarian work economy and culturally scripted traditional societies characterised by strict gender role orientations. Based on 15 in-depth interviews with rural working mothers in Western Ghana, this study investigates how rurality informs working mothers experiences of work-family conflicts and how they contextualise their lived experiences of reconciling their work and family duties. Lastly, the study highlights the importance of context in shaping working mothers’ lived experiences of work-family intersections as well as culturally sensitive approaches for studying work-family intersections.