Gender and Class: Comparing the Situation of Single-Parent Households in Seven European Countries

Published date01 December 2013
AuthorDorota Szelewa
Date01 December 2013
DOI10.1177/138826271301500404
Subject MatterArticle
358 Intersentia
GENDER AND CLASS: COMPARING
THE SITUATION OF SINGLE
PARENT HOUSEHOLDS IN SEVEN
EUROPEAN COUNTRIES
D S*
Abstract
is article centres on the intersection of the dimensions of class and gender. Its
main goal is to present an overview of the kinds of constraints and opportunities
provided by the combinations of di erent policy tools for various income pro les
in Denmark, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United
Kingdom. Adopting a focus on single parents, di erences within this group are
identi ed by using disposable income micro-simulations for di erent household
pro les in applying the capabilities approach, giving special attention to the level of
agency over choices in work-life balance. In order to measure the cl ass e ects of policy
mixes, this article proposes an alternative approach to the comparative analysis of
family support. It adopts a particular focus on single-parent families. (1) for four
di erent income pro les: at levels of 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 times the average wage;
(2) for in-work and out-of-work situations; and (3) by using a tax-bene t model,
which analyses gross income from work along with social bene ts (unemployment
insurance bene ts, housing bene ts, child bene ts, and child care subsidies) minus
tax, mandatory social contributions, housing costs and childcare fees.  e adopted
unit of styli sed comparison i s a single-parent fa mily with a child aged t hree, with the
assumption that the family uses forma l childcare.
Keywords: capabilit ies; family policy; gender; Nordic model; single parents
* Dorota Szelewa is an Assistant Professor at the Instit ute of Social Polic y, Warsaw University,
Address: Nowy Św iat 67, 00–927 Warsaw, Poland; phone: +48 790568 368; e-mail: dsz elewa@icra.pl.
Gender and Class : Comparing the Situat ion of Si ngle-Parent
Households in Seven Eu ropean Countries
European Jour nal of Social Sec urity, Volume 15 (2013), No. 4 359
1. INTRODUCTION
Due to falling fertility rates and changing gender roles in society, childcare policies
have remained at the centre of attention for European policy makers and experts
for more than two decades (Gornick and Meyers 20 03; Kamerman and Ka hn 1997).
Comparative research on family support systems has tried to identify the policy
mixes that would represent t he ‘best’ possible mix of solutions to the chal lenge of the
resulting shi s in social risks (Taylor-Gooby 2004). At the same time, the growing
number of single-parent households in OECD countries has directed the attention
of experts to these ‘atypical’ families (OECD 2011). For welfare state researchers,
policies towards single-parent fa milies represent a critical ca se for studying the e ects
of particular pol icy combinations on employment and/or income situations (Misra el
al.2007), because the tension bet ween work and care responsibilities for this type of
household is even more profound than for two parent fami lies.
Since most single-parent families are composed of female parents, several
researchers have focussed on the issue of single motherhood (Kamerman and
Kahn 1988; Lister 2003; M isra et al.2007). As these studies demonstrate, whi le it is
common for some countries to underli ne the role of single mothers as carers, other s
tend to focus on single parents as heads of households who need special support
for entering and remaining in paid employment (Lister 2003). Data on the income
situation of single mothers demonstrate that poverty rates among this group of
households are lower whenever policies o er greater support in the form of care
services (Misra et al.2007).
e gender dimension of childcare policies constitutes a topic for research at the
intersection of gender and class (Hobson 2002; Lister 2003; O’Connor 2004; Taylor-
Gooby 2009). Researchers in thi s  eld have paid more attention to low-income single
mothers (Edin 200 0; Rowlingson and McKay 20 02; Misra et al.2007) with less emphasis
placed on variations in income situation within the group of single-parent families.
While a gender perspective in social policy analysis provides a better understanding
of how di erent policy mixes c an in uence the scope of possible choices with rega rd to
work-l ife ba lanc e, ana lysi s of di  erent st ructures of entitlement with regard to i ncome
and employment might fur ther di erentiate bet ween single-parents.
is article poses a nu mber of questions: What is the st ructure of support for single-
parents in di erent welfare states? What is the e ect of particular combinations of
the instru ments of support on the levels of disposable income for di erent household
types (the class d imension)? How does the struct ure of support in uence t he range of
choices (i.e. agency) of single-parents with rega rd to professional career and c are (the
gender dimension)? How do these two dimensions (gender and class) intersect i n the
case of single-parents in di erent welfare states? In order to answer these questions,
the article compares income di erences within the group of single parents by using
disposable income micro-simulations for di erent household pro les. Instead of
using only aggregate indicators, it focuses on particular components of disposable

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