Work and Wellbeing: lone mothers, their children and social relationships (original) (raw)
Related papers
No Margin for Error: Fifteen Years in the Working Lives of Lone Mothers and their Children
Journal of Social Policy, 2018
Over the past two decades, the emphasis on paid work has become one of the defining features of social security policy in the UK. Lone mothers and their families have been one of the key groups affected. In this article we focus on the working and family lives of lone mothers and their children over time, drawing on material from a long-term qualitative research study, and setting this in the context of policy developments. We explore the long-term consequences of trying to sustain work, and manage low-income family life as children grow up and needs change over time. This highlights some of the tensions and limitations in family support and relationships when resources are limited. We reflect on the links between insecurity, legacies and the state.
Lone mothers and paid work: the ‘family-work project'
International Review of Sociology: Revue Internationale de Sociologie, 2013
When a mother starts work, her daily life changes in various ways: time, money, relationships, quality of life, and well-being are all subject to modification and potentially greater uncertainty. This is also true for her children, who must adapt to changed circumstances and perhaps play a different role within the family as a consequence. Sustaining work and care over time means that the situation of being a working family must become part of the everyday and regular practice of the family, and this actively involves all family members. This article explores this concept of a ‘family-work project’ through a qualitative longitudinal study of British lone mothers and their children, starting as the mothers took up work and following the families for four to five years. The research captured the experiences of the families as they negotiated the demands of sustaining employment while living on a low, but complex, income.
By virtue of some fundamental changes in the infrastructure of the families in UK such as high rate of divorce, cohabitation, remarriage and etc, the number of lone parents specially lone mothers has had an acute growth in the recent years. Consequently, dependency of these kinds of families on governmental allowances as well as means-tested benefits and their low work participation in the market as the active work force rather than potential active work force, has led to make the government to adopt some particular policies in this regard to motivate and encourage their work participation and simultaneously decrease their dependency on governmental allowances. However, the main problem of these kinds of new policies has been attributed to non categorization of these kinds of families and their basic needs, problems which can thwart the implementation of governments' policies in this regard.
Health and wellbeing of lone parents in welfare to work: a systematic review of qualitative studies
The Lancet, 2015
Background Lone parents have worse health than couple parents, which is largely explained by higher levels of poverty. Many high income countries have attempted to address poverty by introducing mandatory requirements to actively seek employment or participate in training for welfare recipients, including lone parents. However, employment might not reduce poverty or improve the health of lone parents. To assess experiences of welfare to work and gain insight into possible mechanisms linking interventions with health and wellbeing, this study systematically reviewed qualitative data from studies of lone parents' experiences of mandatory welfare to work. Methods 21 bibliographic databases were searched (appendix) for articles published between July 16, 2009, and July 6, 2013, with no language restrictions; search-term sets were used for the topics, lone parent and welfare to work. Studies that met the criteria of focusing on lone parents, mandatory welfare to work interventions, and health or wellbeing were imported into NVivo (version 10) for coding. Two reviewers independently screened references, assessed study quality for clarity and appropriateness of methods, and developed the coding framework. Thematic synthesis, a method to facilitate transparency when identifying analytical themes between studies, was used to guide line-by-line coding of the data. Findings From 4703 papers identifi ed, 16 studies (724 participants) from fi ve high income countries were included. Although the balance of evidence was on negative fi ndings-ie, linking welfare to work to negative health eff ects, such as stress, fatigue, and depression-there were some positive reports of improved self-worth. Available employment was often precarious and poorly paid. The demands of parenting were frequently in direct confl ict with employment and welfare to work obligations, and aff ected parents' control over major life decisions and everyday routines. Therefore, the concepts of confl ict and control seemed to encapsulate how welfare to work aff ected health. Social support allowed some parents to manage these confl icts, allowing greater control over their circumstances, and for some mediating the adverse health eff ects of welfare to work. Interpretation Participation in mandatory welfare to work can result in increased confl ict and reduced control for lone parents, leading to negative eff ects on mental health. The potential benefi ts of welfare to work are dependent on access to adequate social support and suitable employment opportunities; however these are often unavailable to lone parents in welfare to work.