Single Mothers’ Post-Separation Provisioning: Child Support and the Governance of Gender

Abstract

This article uses single mothers’ pursuit of child support (child maintenance) to examine how the state governs gender through post-separation financial responsibilities. We draw on interview data to detail how the Australian welfare state compels single mothers’ child support provisioning through claims work and the associated strategies of managing information, emotions and government workers. Despite their sustained efforts, provisioning afforded single mothers’ limited financial benefits. We argue that this outcome reflected a gendered policy and implementation regime that normalised masculine financial discretion and simultaneously compelled single mothers’ provisioning and failed to accord it legitimacy. Provisioning did, however, benefit the welfare state, which appropriated single mothers’ time and knowledge to claim and perform key functions. We conclude that the necessity and challenges of child support provisioning were not indicative of a failing child support programme but rather reflected its role in the reproduction of gendered power, responsibilities and rewards in post-separation parenting.

Micro-aggressions, single mothers and interactions with government workers: The case of Australia’s child support bureaucracy

“…My analysis generates a tension between practical and institutional change, and discursive and structural transformation. Participants in this research recommended staff training focused on communication and knowledge of regulations and procedures, more effective compliance measures, and changing DHS-CS policy and practices (Natalier et al, 2015: 44–5). While not ignoring women’s insights, we need to problematize responses that place accountability and responsibility for change only on individuals (Liegghio and Caragata, 2015).…”

Future Building and Emotional Reflexivity: Gendered or Queered Navigations of Agency in Non-Normative Relationships?

“…The first sample comes from a study of 37 single mothers who interacted with Australian government bureaucracies when seeking child support from their former partners, most of whom were not consistently complying with formal assessments. Their average income was below the Australian poverty line, and around half of the women relied on welfare payments; under these economic constraints, a former partner’s non-compliance typically felt like a significant financial loss even when assessed amounts of child support were low (Natalier et al, 2019). We use Isobel as a case study to reflect on the experiences of this group.…”

Invested Mothering: An Intersectional Analysis of Mothers’ Feminized Breadwinning Strategies Under State-Mandated Child Support Arrangements

“…Recruitment for the larger study sought to reach a diverse population by utilizing hard-copy and electronic flyers. Flyers were mailed across the state (e.g., Friend of the Court county offices, Head Start programs, and attorney firms); distributed in person in Southeast Michigan at locations frequented by parents (e.g., public libraries, doctors' offices, support award amounts are often below the actual cost of raising children (Venohr & Griffith, 2005) and the burden is on mothers to guarantee child support payments (Natalier et al, 2019). Low-income women express being unable to rely on both fathers' formal and informal support to financially provide for their children due to infrequent payments (Venohr & Griffith, 2005).…”

“…The result of unpaid support for mothers includes anxiety and uncertainty, decreased levels of public assistance, long-term financial consequences (e.g., accumulating late payments), and shouldering all the financial provision while also being the primary caregiver (Harris, 2015). Custodial mothers-especially those who are low-income and on public assistance-are faced with administrative and accounting labor that has little payback to ensure that the state seeks compliance and collects child support from the nonresident father (Natalier et al, 2019).…”