This book takes the lens of social reproduction as a
starting point for an examination of the effects of
recent social welfare reforms in Canada on the lives
of single mothers. As the cumulative effects of
diminishing state provided benefits take hold,
tensions are heightened as single mothers
internalize the insecurity of earning an income in a
capitalist labour market, while trying to carry out
all that is involved in social reproduction with
inadequate means of survival. Through interviewing
single mothers who are the recipients of multiple
state provided benefits (social assistance, student
loans, subsidized housing and subsidized childcare),
this book illuminates the continued regulation of
women in an effort to ensure social reproduction is
occurring at the lowest cost possible. State
provided benefits are set up in such a way that it
is near impossible for single mothers to make ends
meet without entering the labour force or entering
into co-residential relationships. This push
towards the labour force and/or marriage via
punitive welfare policies illuminates the
devaluation of the labour that is done at home.
starting point for an examination of the effects of
recent social welfare reforms in Canada on the lives
of single mothers. As the cumulative effects of
diminishing state provided benefits take hold,
tensions are heightened as single mothers
internalize the insecurity of earning an income in a
capitalist labour market, while trying to carry out
all that is involved in social reproduction with
inadequate means of survival. Through interviewing
single mothers who are the recipients of multiple
state provided benefits (social assistance, student
loans, subsidized housing and subsidized childcare),
this book illuminates the continued regulation of
women in an effort to ensure social reproduction is
occurring at the lowest cost possible. State
provided benefits are set up in such a way that it
is near impossible for single mothers to make ends
meet without entering the labour force or entering
into co-residential relationships. This push
towards the labour force and/or marriage via
punitive welfare policies illuminates the
devaluation of the labour that is done at home.