An intersectional perspective of work-family conflict: uncovering the care circuit of a Brazilian domestic worker

Drawing on intersectionality and the concept of care circuits, this article reframes work–family conflict (WFC) as a collective, political, and structural phenomenon rather than an individual dilemma. It examines the illustrative case of Carla, a Black Brazilian domestic worker and single mother, whose efforts to reconcile care and livelihood are shaped by racism, patriarchy, and labour precarity. Through an intersectional narrative analysis, the article shows how Carla's everyday strategies both resist and reproduce these inequalities, revealing the complex dynamics that sustain them over time. Her life story illustrates how the care circuit – involving care as obligation, profession, and help – is organised relationally and transmitted across generations. In doing so, the article demonstrates that WFC is socially distributed and rooted in unequal structures of care. By situating Carla's trajectory within the frameworks of intersectionality and care circuits, the study foregrounds the experiences of women whose labour sustains the possibility of balance for others, while often undermining their own. Although Carla's story is singular, it symbolises broader work–family challenges experienced by many women in Brazil and beyond. The article thus offers an analytical and ethical contribution to debates on care, work, family, and inequality.

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Community, Work and Family on 21 Mar 2026, available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/13668803.2026.2645052
This is an Accepted Manuscript version of the following article, accepted for publication in Community, Work and Family. [De Queiroz Monteiro, P. F. H., Da Costa, A. D. S. M., Da Costa Lemos, A. H., & Stumbitz, B. (2026). An intersectional perspective of work-family conflict: uncovering the care circuit of a Brazilian domestic worker. Community, Work & Family, 1–26. https://doi.org/10.1080/13668803.2026.2645052]. It is deposited under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.