Negotiating Paid Work and Caregiving: Experiences of Japanese Mothers of Children with Special Needs

Mothers of children with special needs may encounter difficulties sustaining paid employment when caregiving demands intersect with working hours, school and service arrangements, and children's changing needs. This study examines how mothers negotiate paid work and caregiving within their caregiving circumstances. An exploratory qualitative design was employed with ten mothers whose children attended an elementary special support school in Japan. Data were generated through written interviews comprising 18 open-ended questions and analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Four interrelated themes were developed: conditions of work-care incompatibility and its consequences; negotiating employment through trade-offs and adaptation; care and workplace support as enabling conditions; and the continuing value of paid work. The findings show that difficulties in combining employment and caregiving were shaped not only by the demands of care but also by the timing and unpredictability of children's needs and care arrangements. Mothers responded by adjusting working hours, employment arrangements and career expectations, although these adaptations reflected different combinations of constraint, caregiving priorities and accommodation to children's needs. Family, formal and workplace support expanded employment possibilities when sufficiently compatible with mothers' and children's circumstances. Despite these difficulties, paid work continued to hold financial, personal or professional value for several mothers. The study contributes an experience-centred understanding of work-care negotiation by showing how caregiving demands, employment conditions and available support shape the forms of employment that remain feasible while paid work may continue to be a valued part of mothers' lives.