Lone Mothers in Labour Markets: Employment Availability and Geography

Abstract

Chapter 4 shows how different social groups of lone mothers hold different ideas about the compatibility of motherhood and paid work, and Chapter 5 goes on to link these ideas with employment position as recorded in the British census. However, even if lone mothers do consider that substantial paid work is compatible with being a good mother, and even when they receive support for this through their social networks, appropriate jobs have to be available to put these ideas into practice. And these jobs are provided by employers in the context of local, national and world economies that are largely outside the capacity of lone mothers to influence directly.