Childcare
All the information held in this section can be downloaded in pdf form Parenting_and_Archaeology.pdf
Can parents sustain a career in Archaeology?
The IfA report Profiling the Profession (2008) recorded that a disproportionate number of women were leaving the field in their 30s. The theory is often put forward that women ‘choose’ to sacrifice their career for a family…
The cost of childcare isn’t the only reason that women are leaving the profession, but it does play a substantial role. Here’s why:
A nursery place typically costs £38 per day, adding up to an astonishing:
£760 per month
**an amount greater than many rents/mortgage repayments**
If an archaeologist works for 47 weeks of the year, the cost of childcare would total:
£8,930
For many archaeologists this is more than half their wage, leaving working mums trying to survive well below the poverty line.
Combine this with:
A lack of part-time and flexible working practices
A field based on a mobile workforce with low pay and short-term contracts
Legislation that forces women into the prime caring role after the first 2 weeks
And many British women archaeologists are effectively being forced out of the workplace upon parenthood and manoeuvred into the role of unpaid carer, dependent on their partner’s wage.
this does not constitute equal opportunities
Contrast this with the situation in France: http://www.expatica.com/fr/education/pre_school/a-guide-to-daycare-in-france-3479_10470.html
A career in Archaeology?
Every archaeologist is a professional, yet these are not professional working conditions.
BWA maintain that very few woman ‘choose’ to leave their chosen career path lightly.
An archaeologist in her early 30s has seen c. 15 years of training/experience.
In losing women to an antiquated parenting framework, we are diminishing our skills base.
Gender equality legislation is not working
and it's our profession that's suffering
