Universal Credit, gender and unpaid childcare: Mothers’ accounts of the new welfare conditionality regime

Andersen, Kate

doi:10.1177/0261018319856487

Cited by 27 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…With the limited time available to us, we chose to interview one person from each significant tier of the organisation, including a former recipient of those services that has since started working with the provider. Although this means the research is limited in its scope, it does provide an example of the experiences across a supported housing provider that adds to the growing body of such case studies that illustrate the many impacts of austerity (Cooper and Whyte, 2017;Anderson, 2019;Jones et al, 2019) . We do not name the supported housing provider or use names of other practitioners or organisations, and the interviewees have simplified job titles for anonymity, as below.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Residualisation in supported housing: an organisational case study

Hobson

Lynch

Lodge

2020

HCS

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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine how residualisation is experienced across a supported housing provider in an English county. The analysis is in three parts: firstly, it focuses on organisational provision, including impacts of change on decisions on market entry and exit; secondly, it reviews evidence on service provision and the adaptations services are making to reflect the changing pressures of the sector; finally, it considers the impacts on service delivery and the experiences of those that rely on the provision. Design/methodology/approach The analysis uses interview data across the organisation, together with material from the UK Government department consultation (2017) and a UK Parliamentary Select Committee inquiry (2017) to examine the impacts across the different tiers of service, including the day-to-day experience of residualised services for those that deliver and receive that support. Findings The paper concludes that residualisation is a direct outcome of the neoliberalisation of welfare states, introducing limits to state involvement and funding, a greater emphasis on quasi-market involvement in the sector and a shifting of responsibility from government to individuals. Research limitations/implications It not only demonstrates the impacts of reducing state support on the supported housing sector but also emphasises the importance of residualisation as a conceptual framework applicable to the wider implications of austerity and neoliberal ideology. Practical implications This paper demonstrates the way that the burden of responsibility is being shifted away from the public provision of support and onto the individuals. This can be problematic for the individuals who are vulnerable as a result of their economic medical or social circumstances. Social implications The retreat of the state from supported housing is both a political change and an austerity-led change. This article provides insight from a single-supported housing provider. In so doing, it illustrates the pressure such an organisation is under. Originality/value This paper provides a unique insight from the perspective of all levels of a supported housing service provider, combined with the analysis of government consultation and parliamentary inquiry.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Residualisation in supported housing: an organisational case study

Hobson

Lynch

Lodge

2020

HCS

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“…It is that their work 18 a day, 7 days a week, undertaken often alone but extremely effective, is denied completely. Instead of recognizing how the economy is dependent on and expropriating their labor, they are accused of being welfare dependant (Andersen, 2019, pp. 1–20).…”

Section: Parentsnext: Expropriation Of the Care Work Of Single Mothersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unpaid care, welfare conditionality and expropriation

Klein

2021

Gender Work & Organization

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Welfare conditionality where social security payments are conditional on recipients undertaking tasks such as training, submitting job applications and taking part in "work-like" activities, is an enduring punitive feature of contemporary welfare provision in global North economics. | INTRODUCTIONWelfare conditionality is an ongoing feature in the Australian society security system. Unemployment is seen as not a structural issue of advanced capitalist economies, but a problem stemming from individual behavioral

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“…Over recent years, the UK has witnessed significant changes in the way its welfare system operates. Under the Coalition government and the Welfare Reform Act 2012, the welfare benefit system has been transformed (Andersen 2020). UC and policies such as increased conditionality represent one of the central means by which changes have been enacted.…”

Section: Universal Credit Dependency Narratives and The Tutelary Statementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Other dynamics, such as an association between the introduction of UC and rise in mental health needs or destitution, use of food banks or engagement in 'survival sex work' among some lone parents, can negatively impact upon parenting capacity and child welfare (Katikireddi et al 2018;Butler 2019;Parliament UK;Wickham et al 2020). Some political anxiety has also been raised about a substantial increase in poverty for parents on benefits, and that conditionality-based 'workfare' policies signify an unacceptable extension of state authoritarianism which leads to the undermining of basic human rights alongside full citizenship for many lone parents (Dean 2012;Cain 2016;Dwyer 2019;Andersen 2020).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Universal Credit, Lone Mothers and Poverty: Some Ethical Challenges for Social Work with Children and Families

Carey

Bell

2021

Ethics and Social Welfare

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This article critically evaluates and contests the flagship benefit delivery system Universal Credit for lone mothers by focusing on some of the ethical challenges it poses, as well as some key implications it holds for social work with lone mothers and their children. Universal Credit was first introduced in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2008, and echoes conditionality-based welfare policies adopted by neoliberal governments internationally on the assumption that paid employment offers a route out of poverty for citizens. However, research evidence suggests that the risks of conditionality polices for lone parents can often include increased poverty, a deterioration in mental health or even destitution posed by paternalistic sanctions or precarious low-paid employment, which can undermine parenting capacities and children's well-being. The article also critically appraises and questions challenges posed by an increased reliance upon contractual ethics by governments, alongside the wider behaviour-modifying policies of the workfare-orientated state. This includes that working-class lone mothers can erroneously be stigmatised as representing a morally challenged dependent burden through activation policies and risk-averse social work practices.

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Universal Credit, gender and unpaid childcare: Mothers’ accounts of the new welfare conditionality regime

Cited by 27 publications

References 36 publications

Residualisation in supported housing: an organisational case study

Residualisation in supported housing: an organisational case study

Unpaid care, welfare conditionality and expropriation

Universal Credit, Lone Mothers and Poverty: Some Ethical Challenges for Social Work with Children and Families

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