Rural motherhood and childcare. An analysis of Finnish practices and contrasting expectations
Rural motherhood and childcare. An analysis of Finnish practices and contrasting expectations

Summary/Abstract: Geographers have investigated rural childcare issues from two perspectives. Firstly, the availability of relevant services has been examined, and regional disparities in their provision have been analysed. The second research tradition has focused on cultural expectations concerning motherhood and childcare in rural contexts. This article utilizes both these research lines. It investigates everyday practices of childcare and the meanings related to it in the Finnish countryside. The empirical data is based on a questionnaire survey targeting parents of small children in three municipalities that represent different types of rural areas. The findings suggest that there is no single dominant way of care for children under school age in the countryside. Families combine different forms of care in different stages of their children’s lives. The article concludes that in rural Finland the views and expectations concerning motherhood and childcare are largely similar to those from the whole of the country.

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