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

Abstract 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.

[1]  Welfare conditionality , 2019, Housing Studies.

[2]  E. Dermitzaki.  Miseducation: inequality, education and the working classes , 2018, International Studies in Sociology of Education.

[3]  R. Milkman.  Miseducation , 2018 .

[4]  T. Shildrick.  Poverty Propaganda: Exploring the Myths , 2018 .

[5]  R. Joyce.  Poverty and low pay in the UK: the state of play and the challenges ahead , 2018 .

[6]  Allison J. Pugh.  Coming of Age in the Other America , 2018 .

[7]  D. Reay.  Miseducation: inequality, education and the working classes , 2017, International Studies in Sociology of Education.

[8]  A. Corlett,et al.  The Living Standards Audit 2018 , 2018 .

[9]  Tess Ridge,et al.  Work and relationships over time in lone-mother families , 2017 .

[10]  Ruth Patrick.  For Whose Benefit?: The Everyday Realities of Welfare Reform , 2017 .

[11]  A. Berrington,et al.  Youth social citizenship and class inequalities in transitions to adulthood in the UK , 2017 .

[12]  G. Calder.  How Inequality Runs in Families: Unfair Advantage and the Limits of Social Mobility , 2016 .

[13]  Jane Millar,et al.  Universal Credit: Assumptions, Contradictions and Virtual Reality , 2016, Social Policy and Society.

[14]  K. Edin,et al.  Coming of Age in the Other America , 2016 .

[15]  P. Agostini,et al.  Benefits, pensions, tax credits and direct taxes , 2016 .

[16]  S. Maguire.  NEET, unemployed, inactive or unknown – why does it matter? , 2015 .

[17]  G. Kelly,et al.  Families and Poverty: Everyday Life on a Low Income , 2015 .

[18]  Steven D. Roberts,et al.  Constructing a Theory of Youth and Social Policy , 2014 .

[19]  Tess Ridge,et al.  Lone mothers and paid work: the ‘family-work project’ , 2013 .

[20]  Tess Ridge,et al.  ‘We are All in This Together’? The Hidden Costs of Poverty, Recession and Austerity Policies on Britain's Poorest Children , 2013 .

[21]  A. Whitworth,et al.  Lone Parents and Welfare-to-work Conditionality: Necessary, Just, Effective? , 2013 .

[22]  C. Webster,et al.  Poverty and Insecurity: Life in Low-Pay, No-Pay Britain , 2013 .

[23]  Margaret Melrose.  Young people, welfare reform and social insecurity , 2012 .

[24]  M. Daly.  Shifts in family policy in the UK under New Labour , 2010 .

[25]  J. Waldfogel,et al.  Britain's War on Poverty , 2010 .

[26]  Tess Ridge,et al.  Following Families: Working Lone‐Mother Families and their Children , 2011 .

[27]  Tess Ridge,et al.  Relationships of Care: Working Lone Mothers, their Children and Employment Sustainability , 2009, Journal of Social Policy.

[28]  Tess Ridge,et al.  Work and well-being over time: lone mothers and their children , 2009 .

[29]  Jane Millar.  Work is good for you. Lone mothers, children, work and well-being , 2008 .

[30]  Jane Millar,et al.  Lone parents and employment: international comparisons of what works , 2003 .

[31]  R. Barrell.  The UK Labour Market , 1994 .