Shifting Visions of the Good Life Through Early Motherhood, 2017-2021

These data were generated as a project which was part of a five-year ESRC-funded research centre- CUSP- the Centre for Understanding Sustainable Prosperity. The Shifting Social Visions of the Good Life in Early Motherhood Project involved interviews with mothers of young children on two occasions, once in 2017/8 when their oldest child was 6-7 years old and again in 2021 when that child was 9-10 years old. These women had previously been interviewed by the researchers for an earlier project when they were pregnant and had young babies. Data explore women’s visions of ‘the good life’ in the early years of motherhood. What does everyday life with young children look like? What do mothers consider is necessary to live well with a young family, and how does this shift over time? What role is played by food, material goods, evaluations of the home and locality, networks of friends, participation in community activities and family leisure activities? What informs mothers’ aspirations and to what extent are ideas of what is necessary to live well as a family compatible with environmental sustainability? Ten women were interviewed on two occasions, the first time face to face in their homes (except for one participant who was interviewed via SKYPE) and the second time online via Zoom due to the COVID pandemic restrictions. One participant’s interviews have been redacted due to a combination of information which would make her potentially identifiable. Thus there are a total of 18 interview transcripts- 9 carried out with participants in 2017/18 and nine carried out with same participants in 2021.