Citation

Forsberg L. Acta Sociol. 2009; 52(2): 162-175.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2009, Scandinavian Sociological Association, Publisher SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/0001699309104003

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The article documents how dual-earner families employ different household strategies when managing time and childcare in everyday life. In particular, the focus is the unforeseen consequences of household strategies, that is, novel emerging problems, cultural ideals and subjectivities. In this ethnographic study of eight middle-class couples in Sweden, I analyse three household strategies: delegating, alternating and multitasking. While parents apparently use these strategies to juggle the multiple demands of everyday life in a time-efficient way, they also comply with a norm of involved parenthood. Thus, when employing household strategies, the parents balance between enacting themselves as involved parents and running the risk of being understood as uninvolved.