Lone Motherhood in Twentieth-century Britain: From Footnote to Front PageOver the course of the 1990s, lone motherhood has become a major political issue in Britain--but what is the problem actually about and to what extent is it new? This timely study, written by three leading experts in the field, examines the changes that have befallen the pathways leading to lone motherhood--changes in ideas about marriage, divorce, and never-married motherhood. The evolutionary policy histories relevant to lone mothers in housing, social security, and employment are also studied. The findings detailed in these pages illustrate both the complexity of the issues and the extent to which policies have reflected society's changing definitions of this phenomenon. |
Contents
The Changing Demography of Lone Motherhood 21 227 | 21 |
The Debate about the Law Affecting Marriage | 60 |
Constructions of Unmarried Motherhood in | 98 |
Characteristics Circumstances | 124 |
Social Security and Lone Mothers | 151 |
Housing and Lone Mothers | 211 |
Lone Mothers Employment and Childcare | 241 |
Conclusion | 276 |
296 | |
325 | |
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Common terms and phrases
allowance amongst authorities Barbara Castle behaviour Britain cent changes child benefit Child Support Act Child Support Agency childcare claimants Cmnd cohabitation concern contraception couples courts debate dependent children DHSS divorced women early earnings economic England and Wales extramarital birth Family Law fathers Finer Committee full-time Government HMSO homeless household housing benefit husband ibid illegitimacy illegitimate increased labour market legislation living London lone mother families lone motherhood lone parent families lone parenthood lone parents Margaret Thatcher marital status marriage married women matrimonial means-tested Ministry National Assistance National Insurance never-married lone mothers numbers of lone one-parent families OPCS paid employment part-time particular poverty pregnancy problem proportion reform relationship rent Report responsibility Second World War sector separated and divorced sexual morality Social Security Supplementary Benefit Survey Table tenants tion two-parent families unmarried motherhood unmarried mothers welfare widows wives young