PhD case study - parenthood and loneliness

My draw to the subject

During my BA Sociology degree with the Department of Sociological Studies, I took part in the University’s SURE (Sheffield Undergraduate Research Experience) scheme and undertook a qualitative study into what influences a mother to breastfeed her baby beyond three months in the UK. I find the topic of breastfeeding fascinating, why so few women do it and how it affects confidence. My research even saw me invited to showcase the research to Members of Parliament as part of a ‘Posters in Parliament’ event. I worked with Dr Andrea Wigfield, Director of the Centre for Loneliness Studies, during this time and it was Andrea who suggested that I could apply for a PhD. I was nervous about applying but I wanted to combine the themes of loneliness and parenthood.

I have two small children, so this influenced my interest in studying parenthood in a sociological way. I really enjoy researching people who are marginalised in some way. Young mums are particularly marginalised, and I’m just really interested in hearing their stories and finding out more about their experiences.

The questions and challenges I set out to address

There are five areas of research that I want to explore. The main area is relationships. Loneliness is a result of not being happy with your relationships, so I want to work out how loneliness affects the transition to motherhood affects the quality of relationships for young women. Another area I want to look at the expectations and the dominant discourse surrounding the idea of motherhood: what it means to be a good mum and how that might impact on young mothers in particular. Then there’s issues of identity that I want to explore, especially for marginalised mums that might not fit into those dominant expectations. 

I also want to look at the embodiment of motherhood, self-image, femininity and sexuality. Finally, I want to look at the policies and provisions that are in place now to support young mothers who might be lonely. 

Responses to my research

Everyone I speak to about the project has been interested in it. I think the pandemic has really highlighted loneliness as a social problem. I’ve reached out to some charities to work with that all realise the problem of loneliness. People have been very positive and told me that it’s an important thing to do after the pandemic, as people become more isolated in so many ways and obviously, that’s going to affect mums and children in particular. 

People have missed a lot of opportunities to socialise because of the pandemic. I’ve been doing some reading today about the importance of having friends who are going through the same thing as you. For example, when you have friends with kids of the same age, it just normalises a lot of the stuff you have been worrying about. I’m expecting the pandemic will influence my work a lot. It’s going to be broader than that, but the pandemic but it will have an impact.

What I want to achieve

I’m planning to speak to participants next year in my second year. I’m hoping to volunteer with a parenting group in Sheffield and I will work with them for a few months and then hopefully recruit some participants through that. I’m really looking forward to the fieldwork stage, I think it will be brilliant. I can’t wait to speak to some young mums about their experiences.

Ideally, I’d like to influence policy. There’s now a Minister for Loneliness in Parliament, so getting through to that level would be great. What I would want to happen would for parental loneliness to be recognised as its own concept and to encourage more research in that area really, which in turn would help to create more appropriate for young mums who need it. Not just young mums but all mums who need it.

It would be really nice for my participants to make some friends during the project. I’m hoping to do some focus groups with young mothers who might be lonely. It would be great if they could make some relationships as an outcome of the research. 

If you are interested in participating in Florence’s research, please contact her at: fgaughan1@sheffield.ac.uk.