Schoolwork by Mothers* and Fathers* Under Conditions of Societal Inequality

This chapter presents findings from research on the transition from kindergarten to school from the parents’ perspective. The study presented explores the question of which parental views develop during the transition to school and how these positions change over the first year of school. It was found that parents are confronted with multiple disadvantages during their school-related work. From an intersectional perspective, our intention is to explore how both privilege and disadvantage are related to unequal social power relations, as well as to notions of families and (good) parenting within the German welfare system. A central result of the study shows that the availability of time resources or the lack thereof to do schoolwork is the relevant factor for a transformation of attitudes. Against this background, our findings indicate that the possibility of being able to do schoolwork adequately depends on the positioning in social space and the associated possibilities or impossibilities of being able to find time resources for schoolwork.