Hard times and hidden balances: unveiling further relationships between family, work and consumption

Abstract

This paper explores the interface between family and work by shedding light in a seemingly unimportant yet regular activity in the daily life of many families and individuals: consumption. Using the sociological lens, I argue that examining the shopping practices remains a way of unveiling further hidden relationships between family and work, namely the ones regarding the occupational status of the couple’s members, the hours worked in the labor market, the implications of stability, income and gender inequality, nonstandard work or technological advancement in the household division of labor (e.g., housework and childcare). Empirically, I turn to the qualitative analysis of the accounts provided by both men and women interviewed in the framework of a broader sociological research devoted to the study of contemporary family rituals. The raw data were collected through episodic interviews carried out to middle-class individuals with at least one child between 3 and 14 years old, later subject to a qualitative content analysis making use of software NVivo. By the end, I argue that shopping practices greatly depend upon the relationships that individuals – both men and women – have with time, namely either the power or liberation versus the subjection, which is largely determined by economic inequality and the constraints of professional activity (e.g., workload, work pace). Ultimately, I hope this study might help to consolidate the sociological research in these key-arenas of contemporary life, while pushing forward the family-work field as the New Economy context brings multiple and multiplex ways of relating to work.