Life Satisfaction of Working and Stay-at-home Mothers of Primary School Children in Ireland

by

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

It would not have been possible to narrate this thesis without the help and motivation of the gracious people around me, to only some of whom it is possible to give particular highlight here. First of all, I would like to express my sincere appreciation to my advisor for the continuous support of my study and research, for his endurance, enthusiasm and engross knowledge. His guidance helped me in all the time of research and writing for this thesis. Besides my advisor, I would like to thank the rest of my thesis committee [s] for their encouragement, perceptive comments and difficult questions. I thank my fellow research companions [names] for the stimulating discussions, for working together before deadlines and for the enlightening experiences. Last but not the least I would like to thank my family: [names] for supporting me and providing me insightful suggestions and ideas for working on this diversified project.

DECLARATION

I, [type your full first names and surname here], declare that the contents of this dissertation/thesis represent my own unaided work, and that the dissertation/thesis has not previously been submitted for academic examination towards any qualification. Furthermore, it represents my own opinions and not necessarily those of the University.

Signed __________________ Date _________________

ABSTRACT

Women in Western countries over the last decade have increasingly taken part in the labor market, and mothers have not been left behind. Maternal employment is a topic of significance, not only in economic studies, but also in communal debates and opinions. This is for the reason that maternal employment impacts the lives of women as well as the entire community. The purpose of this study is to investigate how the living settings of mothers in Ireland affect their life satisfaction. The study will determine what make mothers more satisfied with their lives, is it working while taking care of their family or staying at home full-time to take care of their children? This study will collect data from 109 participants who were either married or in long-time relationship. According to the survey results, it has been identified through this research that working mothers of primary school children are more satisfied as compared to stay at home mothers of primary school children. The research focused on testing five hypotheses through the information that was obtained from two categories of sample: working mothers of primary school children and stay at home mothers of primary school children. There are numerous reasons behind this satisfaction difference. Working mothers have increased self-confidence and self-esteem. They are capable of taking variety of challenges that includes both in-house and outside the house problems. Furthermore, working mothers are financially strong enough to cater their children's needs and provide them with much better education. They have capabilities of performing various tasks which also increases their self-confidence. In addition, they are more socially active which engages them into different activities. Therefore, their health is also more enhanced. Working mothers have a sense of satisfaction, along with ...