Good Enough Mothering? Feminist Perspectives on Lone Motherhood

Lone mothers and their children currently comprise almost 20 per cent of all families with dependent children in Britain. Their numbers have nearly trebled since 1970. Politicians and the media have focused on them as a symptom and cause of a broader social breakdown, yet little is known about the causes, consequences and conditions of lone motherhood. Good Enough Mothering? provides accounts of historical patterns of mothering and ideologies of the family, cross-national comparisons of policies and experiences of lone mothers in developed and developing countries. It analyses recent social policies and legislative changes in family law, the Child Support Act and discourses about the creation of an underclass in Britain and the USA. This edited collection, with contributions from leading academics in their fields, builds on feminist scholarship on motherhood and 'the family' and contributes significantly to the feminist and social policy literature on lone mothers. Good Enough Mothering? will be essential reading for all students of social policy, women's studies and sociology.

Currently, lone mothers and their children make up almost 20 per cent of families with dependent children in the UK, a threefold increase since 1970. Yet, while they are often cited by politicians as both a symptom and cause of social breakdown, relatively little is known of the causes, consequences and conditions of lone motherhood in Britain and throughout Europe. Good Enough Mothering? provides accounts of historical patterns of mothering and ideologies of the family with cross-national comparisons of policies and experience of lone motherhood in developed and developing countries. Countries include: Britain, US, Norway, South Africa, Kenya, Thailand, India, Brazil and the Caribbean. This engaging edited collection will appeal to students of social policy, women's studies and social work.

Introduction, Elizabeth Bortolaia Silva; Chapter 1 The Transformation of Mothering, Elizabeth Bortolaia Silva; Chapter 2 Deconstructing Motherhood, Carol Smart; Chapter 3 Mothering and Social Responsibilities in a Cross-Cultural Perspective, Henrietta L.Moore; Chapter 4 Diversity in Patterns of Parenting and Household Formation, Carolyn Baylies; Chapter 5 Mothers, Workers, Wives, Jane Millar; Chapter 6 Rational Economic Man or Lone Mothers in Context?, Rosalind Edwards, Simon Duncan; Chapter 7 ‘Parental Responsibility’: The Reassertion of Private Patriarchy?, Lorraine M.Fox Harding; Chapter 8 Social Anxieties about Lone Motherhood and Ideologies of the Family, Mary McIntosh; Chapter 9 Debates on Disruption, Louie Burghes; Chapter 10 Social Constructions of Lone Motherhood, Ann Phoenix; Chapter 11 Unpalatable Choices and Inadequate Families, Roseneil Sasha, Kirk Mann;

Elizabeth Bortolaia Silva is Research Fellow and runs the Gender Analysis and Policy Unit in the School of Sociology and Social Policy, University of Leeds.