[The Second Take] How the Single Mom in "Full Time" Survives

Many Women Quit Their Jobs for Family Reasons
For Real Change, Women Must Stay and Speak Up

Julie (Lorie Calami) in the movie "Full Time" is a single mom. To raise her two children, she works as a cleaner at a 5-star hotel in Paris. Although she completed a master's degree in economics, her career was interrupted due to childcare. She wants a job that matches her qualifications, but time to prepare is tight. She wakes up early to prepare meals and has to leave her two children with neighbors. After transferring on public transportation, she arrives at the hotel with no time even to check her smartphone. The labor continues even after work. She brings the children home, puts them to bed, and prepares to go to work the next day.

Her already tough daily life becomes even harder. A nationwide transportation strike makes commuting from the outskirts of Paris to the city difficult. Since she cannot expect part-time work, she has no choice but to hurry. Julie is repeatedly late and is stigmatized for poor attendance. Because she gets home late, she also receives harsh words from the neighbors who look after her children.

"There's nothing to feed them, nowhere for them to sleep." "Yes, I know." "They don't even have their own things." "Would you like to come to my house?" "Just come quickly." "I want to go, but I don't have a car, so I don't know what to do. You can come to my house." "I don't want that! I'm uncomfortable taking care of kids in a stranger's house." "I can't help it either. I really don't know. I don't think I can come today." "You have to take responsibility for your own kids."

Unlike striking workers, Julie cannot stop working. Due to poor childcare support from the government and local authorities, she needs a way to make a living. This is not just a problem in France. Many women worldwide struggle with similar issues. Sociologist Pamela Stone wrote the following in "Is Women's Retirement Voluntary?: The Real Reasons Women Quit Work and Go Home."

"Once a woman becomes a mother, she encounters a hostile atmosphere at work. Women's situations related to childcare are treated only as private matters. (...) Work and home are strictly separated, and talking about these issues is taboo. Ultimately, it is expected that each person handles it on their own. If a woman shows maternal affection, she is often discriminated against, so women remain silent. Workplace culture itself views this as a personal problem."

For these reasons, many women cannot work long-term. Even if they continue, they give up many things such as pregnancy. Single moms who already have children essentially become machines. They start childcare as soon as they finish company work. A life without leisure, filled with anxiety. It does not have to be perfect. The women's rights movement never promised a life without pain. It never claimed that balancing work and family would be easy. It only told women that they can do the same as men.

Julie endures all kinds of difficulties but is unilaterally notified of dismissal. Some choices were clearly reckless and risky. However, the hotel showed no interest in her situation or sought coexistence. At that moment, dismissal shifts from a personal issue to a structural problem related to balancing family and work. Companies must guarantee the right to take leave during certain periods or special circumstances. Governments and local authorities should also pay attention to financial support. To make this visible, the number of working women must increase and their voices must grow louder.

What is the reality? Many women still quit their jobs for family reasons. The few women who have reached executive or top positions mostly live like men. They are mostly single or have no children. Even if they do, usually only one child. They find it difficult to fully understand the pain of balancing family and work. Social change is slowing down accordingly, and women inevitably face a choice between the two. If true change is desired, women must stay in the workplace, demand equal treatment with men, and assert their right to have children. Then men will also join in. After all, no worker would want an unbalanced life.