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Abstract: Lone mothers are disadvantaged, but the extent of their disadvantage depends upon the nature of family policies in a given nation. Cross-national comparisons indicate that Canada places lone-mother families at a greater disadvantage than do Nordic European countries, but rarely do policy-makers seek the views of Canadian lone mothers. This study of 25 lone mothers sought their views regarding their parenting needs. Results indicated that mothers viewed material deprivation and overwhelming mothering responsibility as the two primary barriers to parenting their children. In light of these mothers' views, a review of European family policies provides some recommendations for Canadian family policies.
Abrégé : Les mères seules sont défavorisées, mais elles le sont à des degrés divers variant selon la nature des politiques familiales d'un pays donné. Il appert, à la lumière de comparaisons transnationales, que les mères canathennes sont moins favorisées que leurs congénères des pays d'Europe du Nord, mais les décideurs ne s'enquièrent que rarement de leur point de vue. Cette étude menée auprès de 25 mères seules cherchait à sonder l'opinion de celles-ci quant à leurs besoins parentaux. Il en ressort que celles-ci estimaient se buter à deux obstacles principaux à l'élevage de leurs enfants, à savoir les difficultés matérielles et la responsabilité écrasante d'être mère. Compte tenu de leur point de vue, l'examen des politiques familiales européennes permet de recommander des pistes de solution pour les politiques canathennes en la matière.
LONE-PARENT families are the fastest increasing family constellation in Canada, the United States, and most Western countries, with lone mothers, especially unmarried lone mothers, heading the vast majority of such families in Canada and the United States (Bradshaw & Harland, 2006; Statistics Canada, 2007). It has been suggested that, given the pervasiveness and duration of lone motherhood, it should simply be normalized and considered just another phase of the female life cycle, with corresponding supportive family policies being developed (Kilkey & Bradshaw, 1999; Rowlingson & McKay, 2002). Sadly, however, in North America the increase in lone motherhood, particularly in the case of unmarried mothers, has been viewed as a threat to patriarchal notions of motherhood (O'Reilly, 2004) and has generated a backlash of punitive rather than supportive policies. The wisdom and positive experience of several decades of successful European,...