Towards a better deal for lone parents : a feminist analysis of social policy

Abstract

Since the election of a New Labour Government in 1997, tackling poverty and social exclusion has been high on the political agenda and that has necessarily mean targeting the high risk group of lone parent families.  Essentially, the Government has focused on paid work as ‘the best route out of poverty’; pledging to provide ‘work for those who can and security for those who can’t’ ‘to make work pay’ and to make it easier for families to achieve a ‘work-life balance’.  Its strategy includes the New Deal for Lone Parents which is a voluntary programme aimed at helping lone parents move into paid work or to increase their weekly working hours to 16 or more.

First, this thesis locates the strategy of the Blair Government within its historical context. Secondly, using data collected from a small scale study of lone parents and findings from larger national studies, it explores the scope and limitations of present policy. Focusing on paid work distorts the meaning of social exclusion and diminishes the policy debate; it ignores inequalities in pay, in the workplace and in the allocation of caring responsibilities and it undermines the value of unpaid work. Delivering social inclusion demands a more holistic approach which encourages participation, accepts diversity and secures an adequate family income, thereby ensuring the full status of citizenship for all. In some cases, paid work may be key to achieving that status but to extol it either as the best or only route out of poverty serves only to exclude yet further those who, for whatever reasons, do not feel that paid work would be right for them or their families in their present circumstances.

Most parents, carers and volunteers readily fulfil their responsibilities as citizens. Accordingly, neither their marital nor their working status should prevent their families from enjoying the same rights as their fellow citizens; rights which enable them to participate fully in everyday activities of their own choice within their own communities. The data presented here show the value of self-help support and suggest that widening the policy agenda to include greater funding for such initiatives could help to reverse the trend of current policy which tends to preserve full citizenship rights for paid workers and their families.

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