Experiences of heteronormativity and parenting policy by LGBTQ+ parents

Introduction

The examination of parenting policy (maternity leave, paternity leave, parental leave, adoption leave etc.) has increased in recent years, however, this research tends to view the use of these policies as an issue for women - or more specifically, mothers (Lewis, 2001; Russell, O'Connell and McGinnity, 2009; Chung, 2018) rather than those of relevance to all workers.

A typical division of labour exists within UK households, with man as breadwinner and woman as homemaker (Sullivan, 1996). This division leads to the adoption of traditional parenting roles whereby women are responsible for nurturing children (Sheridan, 2004), resulting in the uneven use of parenting policy by women (ONS, 2018). However, through opening up the lens of parenting policy to include LGBT+ parents, the impact of traditional gender roles on the use of these policies may change, as LGBT+ parents are not necessarily subject to the traditional gendered labour model of UK households (Sullivan, 1996).

The proposed research intends to examine the use of parenting policy by LGBTQ+ parents in a bid to answer the following research questions:
1. How does the use of parenting policy fit alongside the gender and parenting roles of LGBTQ+ parents?
a. How are parenting policies used by LGBT+ parents? Do these differ from the use of parenting policies by heteronormative parents?
b. How do heteronormative and LGBTQ+ parents undertake gendered practices of parenting?
c. How do heteronormative and LGBTQ+ parents reconcile notions of their parental identities with the use of parenting policies?
d. How do heteronormative and LGBTQ+ parents reconcile notions of their sexual and gender identities with parenting policies?

The use of parenting policy by LGBT+ parents is under-researched. With the number of individuals identifying as LGBT+ rising (ONS, 2016), as well as the number of LGBT+ cohabiting couple families increasing (House of Commons, 2018), there is a real need for these individuals to be included in the conversation on parenting policy as their use continues to rise (CIPD, 2018).

Queer and Feminist Research

This research intends to engage with both queer and feminist theory, with a multitude of links existing between the two, both exploring overlapping themes. The deconstruction of the dichotomous relationship between men and women within existential feminist research is mirrored within queer theory, with Oswald et al. (2005) arguing that queer theory is also able to deconstruct heteronormativity and challenge gender, sexual and family binaries. This project takes a subjective view of research; an ontological approach to qualitative research which views reality as idiosyncratic and argues for the existence of multiple truths.

Data Collection

In line with the ontological approach to be taken, it is proposed that qualitative semi-structured interviews and focus groups are used as methods of data collection. Data collection should take place with a range of employees amongst the two groups of parents to be studied; heteronormative parents and LGBT+ parents. It is proposed that 50 participants - both individuals and couples - are recruited for this research, in line with Saunders and Townsend's (2016) recommendations on qualitative research participant numbers.

Data Analysis

Braun and Clarke (2006) advocate for the use of thematic analysis as a qualitative analytic method due, predominantly, to its flexibility. Whilst it is widely used as a method of qualitative data analysis, its importance and use is rarely acknowledged (Boyatzis, 1998; Roulston, 2001). The researcher also intends to engage with an inductive version of thematic analysis, going through the process of coding data without attempting to force pre-existing coding frames on the data whilst still allowing the themes to be strongly linked to the data (Patton, 1990; Braun and Clarke, 2006).