Parents in archaeology: challenges facing parents working in archaeology in Wales
Channel: Recording Archaeology
Date: 2015-07-21

Fiona Grant (CADW) and Ian Grant (PCAT) 

Juggling a career and raising children is difficult whatever your profession, and many challenges faced are common to all lines of work.  However, this short paper explores whether parents working within the archaeological profession, particularly within commercial archaeology and particularly within Wales, face specific or more enhanced challenges.  

The following elements may all contribute to the challenge of combining an archaeological career with parenting; rates of pay, short contracts and variable working hours; childcare provision; distance, infrastructure and technology limits such as public transport, road networks, broadband and mobile coverage.  These will be discussed within the context of the profession within Wales.  However, many aspects may also apply to those working within the industry in any region with similar geographic constraints.

We discuss what mechanisms have been applied by some employers to alleviate some of the issues, whether voluntarily or owing to employment legislation, and ask what more could be done, and why.