¡°Making Social Reproduction Social¡±: Charlotte Faircloth on Motherhood, Culture and Research

Introduction

Charlotte Faircloth is Professor of Family and Society at the UCL Social Research Institute and Co-Director of the Thomas Coram Research Unit. Her work explores parenting, gender and reproduction from sociological and anthropological perspectives. She is currently leading the UKRI-funded project ¡°50 Years of Becoming a Mother¡±, revisiting Ann Oakley¡¯s seminal 1970s study to understand continuities and changes in the experience of motherhood. 

On December 12 2025, she will be guesting CELFS at 兴发娱乐官网手机版客户端 University to give a talk on her research. The presentation will also be livestreamed on Zoom from 10:10-12:15. 

In this interview, Charlotte shares her reflections on her research, how interdisciplinary perspectives can deepen our understanding of family life and welfare, and why collaboration across borders and disciplines remains crucial.

Interview

• Your work sits at the intersection of sociology, gender studies and anthropology. What do these perspectives combined allow us to see about families and welfare systems that might otherwise be overlooked?

I find it really productive to bring multiple disciplines to bear on a research topic - each of them come with their own research toolkit or conceptual lens which can be really productive when brought into dialogue. For example, a where 'the family¡¯ might be taken to be an object of analysis and categorisation for psychologists or sociologists, anthropological perspectives would encourage us to think beyond that to consider other ways that people consider themselves to be related (both to each other within ¡®families¡¯, but also to the state more broadly).

• The project ¡°50 Years of Becoming a Mother¡± revisits one of the most influential studies in British sociology. What new insights emerge when we look at motherhood across half a century?

As yet I¡¯m not quite sure! 兴发娱乐官网手机版客户端 are only just starting the data-collection but even what little we have done is revealing of continuity (sadly in terms of how much of a shock the transition to motherhood remains for so many women) but also change: When the first study was done, there were no home pregnancy tests and ultrasounds were not routinely used in pregnancy care. One of the things we are really excited about is actually having some empirical data to capture changes in cultures of motherhood across the life course, particularly around feeding and sleeping practices and the role of partners, the last of which seems to be one of the most fundamental shifts of the last 50 years. One pilot interview revealed that a mother had potty trained her baby in the 1970s far earlier than would be considered typical today (before 6 months old)- I¡¯m really interested in understanding what the relationship was there between these practices and values (was this simply motivated by convenience and cost saving or something else?)

• You¡¯ve also engaged both directly and indirectly with different conceptualizations of "good" parenthood, as they manifest in the private sphere, as well as civil and political society. How do you see contemporary parents navigating these sometimes conflicting expectations?

I think it¡¯s enormously hard, particularly as it relates to ideas about ¡®ideal¡¯ relationships and ¡®ideal¡¯ parenting, which are often in opposition whether in private lives or in public discourses. Many of the parents I worked with in the Couples project spoke about establishing their relationships with an understanding and expectation of gender equality, but found that very hard to reconcile with expectations around a more ¡®intensive¡¯ motherhood which relies heavily on bodily based ideas of good care for infants (such as breastfeeding exclusively for 6 months). This is compounded by welfare systems such as parental leave or childcare provision which (in the UK at least) reinforce and actually often cement these gendered patterns during a child¡¯s infancy, often setting parents up to ¡®fail¡¯ in terms of achieving their gender equality goals - themselves tied into ideas of what makes for a good and fulfilling relationship.

• Beyond your research, you¡¯re active in networks like Repro@UCL and the Centre for Parenting Culture Studies, and you have contributed with your expertise in popular media. What role do you think social scientists should play in public debates about family and reproduction?

I think it¡¯s important for social scientists to contribute when they can to these debates - we often feel that we are only able to speak to our own very narrow area of expertise but having spent time with opinion writers and columnists, I don¡¯t think we should be quite so timid! An academic overview of a field is a really wonderful thing - we are often able to sketch out the social and historical landscape that makes more recent or immediate policy changes (for example) all the more intelligible to a broader audience.

On collaborative research - and making social reproduction social

At the Centre for Everyday Life of Families in the 兴发娱乐官网手机版客户端lfare State (CELFS), researchers examine how welfare policies, institutional practices and social norms shape family life across contexts. This work resonates closely with Charlotte¡¯s own focus on the intersection between policy, everyday care and parental identity.

• CELFS emphasises the everyday experiences of families in relation to welfare structures. From your cross-national and interdisciplinary perspective, what do you see as promising directions for collaboration or comparative research in this area?

I¡¯m particularly interested in how we might start thinking about ways to make social reproduction just that - social, and to encourage a move away from narratives which moralise and individualise responsibility for raising children in particular. I know from previous work with Nordic colleagues that this is a fruitful area for collaboration, thinking about how differing welfare regimes can support (or not) the sustainability of family life.

Make sure to follow CELFS on our LinkedIn for updates on the center's research network: https://www.linkedin.com/company/celfs/