Navigating work, life, and care in marginalized urban communities: insights from Rio de Janeiro

The intersections of work, life, and care responsibilities pose significant challenges for marginalised urban communities, particularly affecting women’s participation in the formal labour market and their reliance on informal care networks. Persistent gender disparities hinder career advancement for women from these communities, largely due to insufficient family support, inadequate organisational and public policies, and entrenched gender norms (Saville et al., 2024). Additionally, unmet caregiving needs in formal workplaces often compel women into informal work, perpetuating cycles of economic vulnerability. Informal care networks emerge as adaptive strategies but frequently place unsustainable demands on women, further exacerbating gender inequities.

Motherhood at the margins introduces additional complexities, as societal expectations around caregiving intersect with economic precarity and racial hierarchies. Women of colour, particularly Black and Indigenous mothers in Brazil, face compounded challenges due to colourism and structural racism, which limit access to employment, social services, and community support networks. These intersecting oppressions shape caregiving experiences and reinforce social exclusion, necessitating a deeper exploration of race, class, and gender dynamics in work-life scholarship.

Transitioning towards equitable care arrangements necessitates comprehensive policy and practical support. In many contexts, families provide the bulk of continuous care, leading to significant gender and socioeconomic disparities (Garcia-Calvente et al., 2004). Women disproportionately shoulder caregiving burdens, negatively impacting their health, employment opportunities, and overall quality of life. These challenges are intensified by austerity measures and conservative policies that weaken social support systems. In response, feminist movements in Brazil have mobilised grassroots campaigns and digital activism, advocating for gender equality and inclusive policy reforms (Jarty & Batthyány, 2021).

Building on discussions from the 9th International Community, Work & Family Conference in Rio de Janeiro in June 2023 – which emphasised “Inclusive Community, Work, and Family: Imagining Global Futures through Local Contexts” – this research examines work-life challenges within marginalised urban communities in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It aims to address the call to embrace the complexity of intersectionality and critically evaluate dominant narratives in the community-work-family nexus.

Employing a participatory approach, this study captures lived experiences in Rio’s urban context, focusing on the dynamic interactions between informal care networks and contemporary workplace demands. Centring the voices of mothers from marginalised racial and socioeconomic backgrounds, this approach highlights how colourism and racialised gender norms shape work-life experiences. By prioritising narratives often excluded from mainstream discourses, this research reveals the cultural, social, and economic factors influencing caregiving and employment choices.

This project seeks to contribute to the development of sustainable social systems that promote gender equity and social inclusion. It also advances theoretical understandings of work, life, and care intersections, emphasising the need for culturally nuanced policies that recognise the complexities of motherhood at the margins. The findings offer practical implications for policymakers, organisations, and communities striving to create more inclusive and equitable environments.