(Not) Taking Account of Precarious Employment: Workfare Policies and Lone Mothers in Ontario and the UK

2007 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia M. Evans
Keyword(s):  
Precarious Employment ◽  
Lone Mothers ◽  
The Uk

Lone Mothers, Ethnicity and Welfare Dynamics

2009 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-118 ◽  
Author(s):  
CHRISTINA MOKHTAR ◽  
LUCINDA PLATT
Keyword(s):  
Extensive Literature ◽  
Welfare Dependency ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Administrative Records ◽  
Lone Parents ◽  
Lone Mothers ◽  
Minority Ethnic Groups ◽  
Policy Concern ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Minority Ethnic

AbstractThis article investigates the ethnic patterning of exit from means-tested benefits in a UK town. Lone parents in the UK face high risks of poverty and high rates of receipt of means-tested, out-of-work benefits. There has been extensive policy concern with lone parents' poverty and with potential ‘welfare dependency’. Investigation of welfare dynamics has unpacked the notion of welfare dependency, and has stimulated policy to better understand the factors associated with longer rather than shorter durations. However, within this analysis, there has been little attention paid to ethnicity. This is despite the fact that the extensive literature on the UK's minority ethnic groups has emphasised diversity in both rates of lone parenthood and risks of poverty. To date we have little understanding of ethnic variation in lone parents' welfare dynamics. Using a data set drawn from administrative records, this article analyses the chances of leaving means-tested benefit for a set of lone mothers in a single town, exploring whether there is variation by ethnic group. We find that, controlling for basic demographic characteristics, there is little evidence to suggest that ethnicity affects the chances of benefit exit, even between groups where rates of lone parenthood are very different.

Madri single che lavorano: uno studio longitudinale

2009 ◽  
pp. 123-137
Author(s):  
Tess Ridge ◽  
Jane Millar
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Tax Credits ◽  
Poor People ◽  
Limited Mobility ◽  
Lone Parents ◽  
Poverty Risk ◽  
Lone Mothers ◽  
Rich People ◽  
Large Scale Survey ◽  
The Uk

- Analysis of poverty dynamics based on large-scale survey data shows that there is limited mobility across the income distribution for most individuals and families. Some people may get better-off over the lifecourse, as their careers develop and wages rise, but overall most poor people do not become very rich and most rich people do not become very poor. Lone parents are at high risk of poverty in the UK, but this poverty risk is reduced for those who are in employment and who receive state financial support through Tax Credits to supplement their wages. This article reports on longitudinal qualitative research which has involved repeat interviews with lone mothers and their children over a period of three to four years. The analysis here explores the experiences of sustaining employment while living on a low, but complex, income and highlights the challenges faced in seeking financial security in this context.

scholarly journals Effects of restrictions to Income Support on health of lone mothers in the UK: a natural experiment study

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (7) ◽  
pp. e333-e340 ◽  
Author(s):  
Srinivasa Vittal Katikireddi ◽  
Oarabile R Molaodi ◽  
Marcia Gibson ◽  
Ruth Dundas ◽  
Peter Craig
Keyword(s):  
Natural Experiment ◽  
Income Support ◽  
Experiment Study ◽  
Lone Mothers ◽  
The Uk

No Margin for Error: Fifteen Years in the Working Lives of Lone Mothers and their Children

2018 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
JANE MILLAR ◽  
TESS RIDGE
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Security Policy ◽  
Qualitative Research Study ◽  
The Past ◽  
Lone Mothers ◽  
Working Lives ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Social Security Policy ◽  
Over Time

AbstractOver 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.

scholarly journals Choice and Welfare Reform: Lone Parents’ Decision Making around Paid Work and Family Life

2011 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 275-293 ◽  
Author(s):  
ANTHONY RAFFERTY ◽  
JAY WIGGAN
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Labour Market ◽  
Job Search ◽  
Work And Family ◽  
Dependent Child ◽  
Employment Decisions ◽  
Lone Parents ◽  
Lone Mothers ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Child Age

AbstractWelfare-to-work policy in the UK sees ‘choice’ regarding lone parents’ employment decisions increasingly defined in terms of powers of selection between options within active labour market programmes, with constraints on the option of non-market activity progressively tightened. In this paper, we examine the wider choice agenda in public services in relation to lone-parent employment, focusing on the period following the 2007 Freud Review of welfare provision. (Freud, 2007) Survey data are used to estimate the extent to which recent policies promoting compulsory job search by youngest dependent child age map onto lone parents' own stated decision-making regarding if and when to enter the labour market. The findings indicate a substantial proportion of lone parents targeted by policy reform currently do not want a job and that their main reported reason is that they are looking after their children. Economically inactive lone mothers also remain more likely to have other chronic employment barriers, which traverse dependent child age categories. Some problems, such as poor health, sickness or disability, are particularly acute among those with older dependent children who are the target of recent activation policy.

Universal Credit, lone mothers and poverty: some context and challenges for social work with children and families

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 189-203
Author(s):  
Malcolm Carey ◽  
Sophie Bell
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Social Rights ◽  
Children And Families ◽  
Welfare Policies ◽  
Lone Mothers ◽  
Paid Employment ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Benefit System

Universal Credit is a streamlined benefits delivery system initially introduced in the UK in 2008. Conditionality-based welfare policies are increasingly international in scale, and are now widely adopted by neoliberal governments on the basis that paid employment offers the most efficacious route out of poverty for citizen-subjects. Numerous studies suggest otherwise and highlight their negative impact upon the social rights, lived experiences and attempts to alleviate poverty for claimants. This article analyses the effect of the reformed benefit system and wider workfare policies upon lone mothers, including as a consequence of engagement with an ever-more stigmatising benefit system, and associated risks posed by sanctions or precarious low-paid employment. It highlights some of the consequences for social work with children and families of Universal Credit, including ongoing tensions and challenges created for the profession by the punitive policies of the workfare-oriented centaur state.

scholarly journals Gender differences in the impact of the Covid-19 lockdown on unpaid care work and psychological distress in the UK

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Baowen Xue ◽  
Anne McMunn
Keyword(s):  
Psychological Distress ◽  
Gender Inequality ◽  
Work Hours ◽  
Care Work ◽  
Work Patterns ◽  
Unpaid Care ◽  
Lone Mothers ◽  
Employment Schedules ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Impact

School and nursery closures and homeworking during the Covid-19 crisis have resulted in an immediate increase in unpaid care work, particularly for parents. Amongst contemporary couples in the UK, women spent more time than men doing housework, childcare and caring for adults prior to the crisis; thus, lockdown draws new attention to gender inequality in divisions of unpaid care work. This study aims to answer how couples in the UK divided childcare and housework during lockdown and whether this is associated with changes in levels of psychological distress. Data for this study come from the April and May waves of Understanding Society Covid-19 study. Psychological distress was measured using the GHQ score (ranges from 0 to 36). Unpaid care work included men and women’s hours spent on childcare and housework and the impact of increased unpaid care work on employment schedules. We found that every week, women spent 5 more hours on housework and 10 more hours on childcare than men during lockdown, and this increased housework and childcare was associated with higher levels of psychological distress for women. One-third of parents adapted their work patterns because of childcare/ homeschooling. Men and women who adapted their work patterns had on average 1.16 and 1.39 higher GHQ scores than those who did not. This association was much stronger if he or she was the only member in the household who adapted their work patterns, or if she was a lone mother. Only 10% of fathers reduced work hours due to care work compared to 20% of mothers. Fathers had more psychological distress if they reduced work hours but she did not, compared to neither reducing work hours. Our research suggests that lockdown has hit people with young families and lone mothers particularly hard in terms of mental health, and continued gender inequality in divisions of unpaid care work during lockdown may be putting women at a greater risk of psychological distress.

UK company law and precarious employment contracts

2017 ◽  
Vol 59 (4) ◽  
pp. 571-583
Author(s):  
Ernestine Ndzi
Keyword(s):  
Company Law ◽  
Employment Contracts ◽  
Precarious Employment ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
Potential Abuse ◽  
Company Directors ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Employment Rights ◽  
The Impact

PurposeThis paper aim to examine the implication of section 172(1)(b) on employment rights, particularly on workers on precarious employment contracts. The aim of the paper is to analyse whether company directors have any liability for potential abuse of worker on precarious employment contracts. The paper examine the advantage of companies recruiting staff on precarious employment contracts and the effect of such contract on the worker. Design/methodology/approachThe paper reviews case law, statutory provisions and academic opinions on precarious employment contracts and its advantages and disadvantages to the company and the worker. The paper critically reviews the impact of Section 172(1)(b) of the Companies Act 2006 on precarious employment contract workers. FindingsThe paper argues that companies benefit more from precarious employment contracts than workers do. The Companies Act 2006 is silent on whether directors should factor the interest of precarious employment worker when making company decision, thereby leaving these workers in a vulnerable position and at the mercy of the employers. Originality/valueThe paper offers a different argument about why the use of precarious employment contracts is on the rise in the UK. It highlights the silence of the Companies Act 2006 as a driver for the increase in the use of precarious employment contracts in the UK.

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