Work-oriented Welfare Programs Exclude Single Mothers from the Benefits of Paid Work

Single mothers are excluded from the benefits of paid work in both the economic market and state welfare programs. This is because both the market and the state have merged into one single social space. As a result, they share the same expectations about who should be entitled to social assistance, and through what types of employment. These norms are influenced by neoliberal ideals and conservative family values. As a result, single mothers experience workfare programs to keep them poor, sustaining their positions as low-wage, low-skilled workers. They also encounter many obstacles to strategic work in the labour market, meaning that they are often forced to be dependent on a male-family figure for survival.