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Single Parenthood and Social Integration

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Single parenthood in the life course

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Abstract

The focus of research and policy on the economic well-being of single parents obscures the possible effects of this living arrangement on other areas of life. A much smaller share of empirical research has been devoted to social well-being, such as integration into social networks. As a socio-political goal, the social inclusion of single parents has also received less attention than integration into the labour market and income security. This chapter addresses the social well-being of single parents, with consideration of the life course perspective.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    For example, pilot projects to support single parents in Germany in the early 2000s included strategies to promote social integration (gsub and SÖSTRA 2013; Rambøll Management Consulting 2013).

  2. 2.

    To corroborate the results, I also conducted the analyses using ordered logit models (Williams 2012; Long and Freese 2014), which better account for the ordinal scaling of the dependent variable, but whose interpretation is less intuitive. The analyses produced the same substantive results.

  3. 3.

    The following question was asked in the questionnaire: “For each activity, please indicate how often you do it: … Reciprocal visits from neighbors, friends, or acquaintances. … Reciprocal visits from family members or relatives.”

  4. 4.

    The complete models can be found in the appendix.

  5. 5.

    The complete models can be found in the appendix.

  6. 6.

    Separate analyses with the whole sample and interaction effects between East/West and single/couple mothers (not shown) show that the single parent effect on contact frequency with family members in West Germany differs significantly from that in East Germany (p < 0.05). Regarding the single parent effect on contact frequency with friends and acquaintances, however, there are no statistically significant differences between mothers in East and West Germany.

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  1. WZB Berlin Social Science Center, Berlin, Germany

    Hannah Zagel

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Zagel, H. (2023). Single Parenthood and Social Integration. In: Single parenthood in the life course. Springer, Wiesbaden. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-40081-1_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-40081-1_6

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