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Lea Caragata
What Works? The Well-Being of Children and Youth in Poor Lone Mother-Led Families
Lea Caragata
published: 2008 | Research publication | Research Report
In an environment
characterized by an increasingly precarious labour market and a retracting
social safety net, this paper explores “what works” in ameliorating the
impoverished circumstances in which the children and youth of low-income lone
mother-led families are being raised. In Canada, the US, the UK and most of
western Europe this has been an area of research focus as the lone mother-led
family is an increasingly common family form that is more vulnerable to poverty
than are two-income households. The policy circumstances in the US and the UK
have most in common with Canada as welfare state provisions in these three
countries are more limited, with Canada occupying a middle ground position
between the US and the United Kingdom. Studies explore such issues as child care, nutrition, after school
programs and health promotion as factors affecting the well-being of children
in these families (Goyette-Ewing, 2000; Mason, 2003; Robinson et al., 2005;
McIntyre et al, 2007). Our own research (Dunn and Caragata, 2007; Caragata and
Alcalde, 2008, Caragata, 2008b) further suggests that the availability of
supports to aid in the transition to adulthood would be important to these
families. Thus, this paper reviews an
extensive literature to determine what the available research suggests in terms
of effectively supporting the children and youth in lone mother-led families.
Download: RTF (160k) What_WorksPaper.rtf
revised Nov 4/11
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