IS POLITICS A “FAMILY PROJECT”? THE GENDERED EFFECTS OF PARENTHOOD IN LOCAL POLITICAL CARREERS

Gender inequalities lead to barriers in accessing political representation positions, often rooted in the imbalance between public and private life. Political positions have traditionally been designed around the male breadwinner model, which clashes with the social roles typically assigned to women. This divergence is reinforced and reproduced with the arrival of children (Greenstein, 2000), when gendered specialization intensifies and caretaking responsibilities act as a limitation for women’s political ambitions, while for men, the opposite might occur (Bellettini et al., 2023). Moreover, political institutions themselves are gendered spaces (Hinze, 2024; Mackay et al., 2010) that reproduce gender biases. They create a context in which the work-life balance needs of mothers are not met, fostering an unequal institutional culture. This study uses qualitative methods to analyse discourses on motherhood and fatherhood in Spanish local institutions. This is a particularly understudied level of government, that in Spain features a proliferation of small under-resourced municipalities which entail an immense -often unpaid- workload for councillors, as well as a ‘strong mayor’ model that demands extensive time commitments. Fieldwork includes 13 focus groups with local councillors and mayors, as well as interviews with politicians, selected for their parental status and their political trajectory at local and other government levels. The aim is to identify the mechanisms by which parenthood has a gendered effect on local political trajectories, regarding both entry/permanence and their ability to perform their role. Three categories are expected to emerge: city councils as gendered institutions, difficulties in balancing family life and political careers, and the challenging relationship between motherhood and political representative roles.