’’I’m just glad my three jobs could be during the day’’: women and work in a rural community

Abstract

The purpose of this qualitative study was to better understand the experience of wage-earning women in the context of rural economic restructuring. An ecological and life course theoretical framework was used. Nine community leaders and 17 wage-earning women residing in a rural northern Michigan county participated in semi- structured interviews, and the prevailing economic concern was low wages and lack of jobs with benefits. Women workers were affected by factors such as ties to rural family business, childcare concerns, and long commutes to work and children’s schools. Informal social support and family ties were identified as reasons for remaining in these challenging circumstances.