Exploring the lived experiences of Singapore’s “opt‐out” mothers: Introducing “Professional Motherhood”

This article explores the experiences of 10 educated middle-class Singaporean women who act in contrast to state's neoliberal focus on continuous employment, opting-out full-time professional work intensively parent their children. Using theoretical lens intensive motherhood and a qualitative longitudinal approach, we explore how these legitimize position, highlighting culturally specific performance (“Professional Motherhood”). Professional enrolls elements former identities skillsets into everyday motherhood, performed through three strategies: positioning, productive, practicing motherhood. We contribute existing literature by demonstrating that informed variations exist beyond (largely Western) dominant ideology. is experienced as radical step women, proving partially successful legitimizing opt-out decisions. However, incorporating further emphasizing deeply ingrained ideal worker expectations, risk upholding competing logics obligations mothers/workers.