Single Parents' Subjective Wellbeing over the Welfare to Work Transition

Abstract

<jats:p>The Australian government purports that employment will improve welfare recipients' wellbeing. However, longitudinal analysis of the subjective wellbeing (SWB) of 135 single parents who were compelled to make the transition from welfare to work revealed that as work hours increased, subjective wellbeing did not improve, and in some cases worsened. Participants who were employed at baseline increased their work hours by an average of 4.75 hours per week; however no change was detected in their SWB. Conversely, participants who moved from not working at baseline to working at follow-up increased their work hours by an average of 15.84 hours per week. For these participants, the change in work hours negatively predicted 20–34 per cent of the variance in SWB. From these data, it is concluded that those parents who were already working were those who faced fewer barriers to employment compared to those who were compelled to work. Those who were previously unemployed may not have the material, social and psychological resources to make a successful work transition.</jats:p>

Quality of Life, Coping Styles, Stress Levels, and Time Use in Mothers of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders: Comparing Single Versus Coupled Households

“…Single motherhood has been previously explored particularly within the area of social welfare and employment research (Cook, 2012b(Cook, , 2012cHerbst & Tekin, 2014;Wu, Wang, & Eamon, 2014); however, there is a paucity of research on single mothers of children with chronic health conditions, including children with a disability (Brown et al, 2008). Even fewer studies have been conducted with single mothers of children with ASD (Dyches, Christensen, Harper, Mandleco, & Roper, 2016).…”

The impact of welfare to work on parents and their children

“…Instead, the most recent evidence reveals the emotional strain parents experience when engaging with the current income support and employment service system. This was found to damage parents' self-worth, self-esteem and quality of life (Blaxland 2013;Bodsworth 2010, 49;Grahame and Marston 2012, 80;Cook and Noblet 2012;Cook 2012;McArthur et al 2013). These strains have been contended to be associated with the poor quality of jobs that program participants hold, that make balancing working and caring responsibilities difficult in the context of inadequate resources (Cook and Noblet 2012).…”

“…post-dating the more stringent and onerous Welfare to Work measures Cook 2012;Cook and Noblet 2012) finds less positive results. The longitudinal analysis from Cook and Noblet (2012), which is most able to discern patterns of causality, found that a compulsory increase in work hours in order to meet activity requirements decreased single parents' subjective wellbeing.…”

“…Only one academic study has attempted to systematically determine whether the 2005 Welfare to Work reforms increased single parents' subjective quality of life Cook 2012;Cook and Noblet 2012). This study was conducted in the period immediately following the implementation of Welfare to Work, and focused on those single parents 'to which welfare to work requirements applied which required them to participate in the most recent welfare to work reform activities' (Cook 2012, 147).…”

“…Finally, Cook (2012) found that single mothers who were required to increase their hours of employment from below 15 hours per week to 15 or more hours due to the new Welfare to Work activity requirements experienced a decrease in their SWB (again using the Personal Wellbeing Index). This finding was based on responses from survey respondents who were working less than the required fifteen hours per week at the baseline and who completed the follow-up survey.…”