Does a Co-Resident Grandparent Matter? Characteristics of Maltreatment-Related Investigations Involving Lone-Parent Families

BackgroundDespite progress in understanding mothers' (re)appearances within family justice, fathers have not yet received due attention in research on recurrent care proceedings. Aims Compare parents' gendered risks of entering subsequent care proceedings; Map family relations underpinning recurrent care proceedings; Investigate the role of family members' life course characteristics (e.g. age, number of children) in shaping the risk of returning to court. MethodsAnalysis drew on 2007/08-2017/18 administrative records from the Child and Family Court Advisory and Support Services (Cafcass) in England. From a sample of recurrent parents (N = 24,460), a latent class analysis established profiles of who they returned with. A competing risks analysis of all parents (N = 165,550) modelled the risk of returning into each profile given index characteristics. ResultsOverall rate of return for mothers was 1.7 times that of fathers: 22% after 5 years, compared to 13% for fathers, and 29% and 17% after 10 years, respectively. Five distinct profiles of recurrent parents were established: 'recurrent family', 'recurrent couple', 're-partnered couple', 'complex recurrence', and 'lone parent'. The vast majority of fathers who entered subsequent proceedings did so as either a part of a recurrent family (41%) or recurrent couple (36%). However, these two profiles represented a much smaller proportion (25% and 19%, respectively) of all recurrent mothers, while the remainder returned with either a new partner or as a lone parent (49%), both with a new child. Complex recurrence represented a small proportion for both mothers and fathers (7% and 11%, respectively). The risk of each of these profiles is characterised by the distinct life course positions of the parent. ConclusionThe results underscore the value of a relational approach and understanding a parent's position within the life course in social work research towards building a fuller picture of recurrence.

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Lone parenthood

Child Poverty ◽

10.1332/policypress/9781447334668.003.0004 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 57-76

Author(s):

Morag C. Treanor

Keyword(s):

Family Life ◽

Family Formation ◽

Normative Values ◽

Childhood Poverty ◽

Homogenous Group ◽

The Public ◽

Lone Parent ◽

Lone Parents ◽

Corrosive Effect

Chapter four explores the importance of, and relationship between, family formation, or ‘breakdown’ and lone parenthood in the context of childhood poverty. Few subjects excite the public and political imagination quite as much as the issue of lone parents. It is an area with strong connections to poverty, disadvantage, gendered inequalities, and the supposed breaching of normative values and expectations. I engage with myths and assumptions about lone parents and reveal the corrosive effect of demonising lone-parent family life on children’s lives and wellbeing. I show that relationships are dynamic, that lone parents are not a homogenous group, that a large proportion of children will spend time in a lone parent formation, and that how a government responds to lone parents in policy terms directly relates to how impoverished their children will be. This chapter also discusses how poverty and emotional mal-being are not inevitable consequences of separation and divorce. The role of separated fathers in lone parent families, particularly their financial contribution and involvement in their children’s lives, are explored.

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Health impacts of UK Lone Parent Obligations: a natural experiment study using data from the UK household panel survey, Understanding Society

The Lancet ◽

10.1016/s0140-6736(17)32937-9 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 390 ◽

pp. S2

Author(s):

Ruth Dundas ◽

Oarabile Molaodi ◽

Marcia Gibson ◽

S Vittal Katikireddi ◽

Peter Craig

Keyword(s):

Natural Experiment ◽

Health Impacts ◽

Panel Survey ◽

Experiment Study ◽

Lone Parent ◽

Using Data ◽

The Uk

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Lone-Parent Families

The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology ◽

10.1002/9781405165518.wbeosl057 ◽

2007 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Karen Rowlingson

Keyword(s):

Lone Parent

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Area Variations in the Prevalence of Lone Parent Families in England and Wales: A Research Note

Regional Studies ◽

10.1080/00343409612331350118 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 30 (8) ◽

pp. 811-815 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

N. Bradshaw ◽

J. Bradshaw ◽

R. Burrows

Keyword(s):

Research Note ◽

England And Wales ◽

Lone Parent

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Understanding, negotiating and navigating the politicisation of evidence-based policy research: the case of Irish research on lone parent labour market activation policy

Evidence & Policy A Journal of Research Debate and Practice ◽

10.1332/174426418x15299528502799 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 15 (4) ◽

pp. 559-577 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Michelle Millar ◽

Rosemary Crosse ◽

John Canavan

Keyword(s):

Labour Market ◽

Policy Change ◽

Policy Research ◽

The Political ◽

Evidence Based ◽

Advocacy Groups ◽

Lone Parent ◽

Lone Parents ◽

Evidence Based Policy ◽

The Government

Utilising a case study of evidence-based policy (EBP) commissioned by government we explore how academic outputs can serve several purposes, depending on the political milieu and the values and ideologies of any given party. Our commissioned research was being carried out in the context of significant policy change for lone parents in Ireland which saw the introduction of labour market activation. The research was initially used by the then Government to appease the Opposition to the highly emotive policy change. Following a general election, Opposition and advocacy groups called on policymakers to acknowledge the report they had commissioned. Concepts of research(er) deficit, normative reality and a shifting ‘policy agora’ are explored to highlight how the political context shaped the uptake of the research findings. We followed the debate by drawing on publicly available documentary evidence relevant to the policy of lone parent activation in Ireland from pertinent parliamentary and committee debates involving all stakeholders, that is the Government, civil servants, Opposition and advocacy groups, to ascertain what happened with the research and why did it happen. Attention is given to the consequences of producing outputs that diverge from political values and ideologies, whereby research can be subject to manipulation to discredit and invalidate findings.

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