The Meaning of Cleaning: Conflicting Norms About Learning to Clean in an Era of Outsourcing Domestic Work

ABSTRACT The aim of this article is to analyse how Swedish mothers, regularly outsourcing cleaning, make use of different discursive resources and negotiate conflicting norms about domestic work when they discuss the role of cleaning in the socialisation of their children. Domestic work is often seen as boring yet character‐building, socialising independence, self‐esteem, responsibility and work ethic. However, time pressures have led more Swedish families to outsource domestic work, supported by tax deductions for services such as cleaning. Yet, we know little about what this outsourcing means for everyday family life. The study is based on interviews with 12 working mothers, with children aged from 9 months to 15 years, from different parts of Sweden who regularly outsource cleaning. Data was analysed with the critical discursive psychology framework. The analysis shows that mothers value both sons and daughters learning to care for the home, but children's actual participation seemed limited, often restricted to decluttering before the cleaners arrive. Outsourcing cleaning was mainly seen as a strategy to reduce stress, prevent conflicts and maximise family/quality time. Mothers expressed a dilemma between wanting their children to learn domestic skills and outsourcing cleaning to preserve family/quality time. Some stressed the importance of teaching their children to respect the cleaners and their work, while also problematising how cleaning was performed by lower‐class, racialised workers. Overall, the study suggests that outsourcing is part of a renegotiation of the socialisation processes in the family, where domestic work is downplayed, while norms of career commitment, paid work, and family/quality time are reinforced, shaping children's orientations towards future citizenship.