In the mid-1980s, after the Indochina Wars, a shortage of men meant that many single women in Vietnam found themselves without suitable marital prospects. A number of these women chose to pursue single motherhood by “asking for a child” (xin con)—asking men to get them pregnant out of wedlock. Xin con appeared to be a radical departure from traditional Vietnamese kinship values and practices, which were based in Confucian patriarchal and patrilineal reproductive interests. However, this innovative solution was rooted in both pre- and postwar values, practices, and notions of gender, kinship, love, and sexuality. This ethnography explores the practice of xin con among single mothers in the postwar era and today, and considers the ways their reproductive agency was embraced rather than rejected by the Vietnamese state as it entered the global market economy. Rather than condemning or trying to restrict older single women’s reproductive agency, government officials enacted policies that would accommodate both the women and the state—a strategy that represents an intriguing alignment of Confucian heritage, Communist ideology, and governing tactics and demonstrates the social power of women.

Single mothers caring for dependent children are an important and increasing population in industrialized countries. In some, single mothers are seen primarily as mothers and few have paid work; in others, they are regarded as workers and most have paid work; and sometimes they are seen as an uneasy combination of the two with varying proportions taking up paid work.; This edited collection explores these variations, focusing on the interaction between dominant discourses around single motherhood, state policies towards single mothers, the structure of the labour market at national and local levels, and neighbourhood supports and constraints.

Follows the author's journey from homeless teenage mother to successful corporate executive.

The first handbook for the paoidly growing number of American women choosing single motherhood, written by the director of the national organization, Single Mothers by Choice.

U.S. welfare rights activists have long envied women in Sweden, who benefited from social policies that made the incidence of poverty among children and solo mothers among the lowest in the world. This situation has begun to change with the rise of neoliberalism in Sweden from the late 1970s to the middle of the 1990s; social policy that had once dramatically improved the lives of solo mothers began to give way to policies that privatized their problems. Solo mothers in the United States were worse off, as conservative policymakers launched a clamorous campaign to restore the "traditional nuclear family" as the only guarantor of women's and children's well-being, blaming solo mothers for everything from juvenile crime to their own poverty. In this revealing and timely book, sociologist and former legal services attorney, Celia Winkler, charts the policies in Sweden and the United States that transformed the social and economic situation of solo mothers, who are an early warning of more general danger: the canary in the coal mine.

Single parents face countless hardships, but they can be boiled down to a triple bind: inadequate resources, insufficient employment, and limited support policies. This book brings together research from a range of disciplines from more than forty countries--with particularly detailed case studies from the United Kingdom, Iceland, Sweden, and Scotland. It addresses numerous issues related to the struggles of single parents, including poverty, employment, health, children's development and education, and more.

Covers the stories of unwed mothers and one of the voluntary organization that supported them throughout the century: The National Council for the Unmarried Mother and Her Child (which renamed itself), The National Council for One Parent Families, (and is now, after a merger, called Gingerbread).

A comprehensive examination of welfare state surveillance and regulation of single mothers in Ontario.

This volume explores the causes and consequences of family inequality in the United States, Europe, and Latin America.

Our understanding of single mothers is broken. Not like, "The x-ray came back and you may need a cast", broken; but, "It's time to evacuate. The levy has been demolished," broken.Mentally, our streets are flooded with ignorance, yet we simply paddle along as if this is the way things are going to be. All things common sense seem to be immersed under the murky waters of, "She should've known better," "She should've been married first," and "It's her fault he ran out. She's the one who chose him." It's bizarre that in a world where cars can drive themselves and phones can recognize thumb prints, we're still committed to such ignorance, but that's about to change.For the last few years I've posted articles, memes, poems, and even viral videos with tens of millions of views on this subject, but like sandbags to an ocean, they've gotten swallowed whole without us, as a society, moving forward one inch. So, I've decided to take things up a notch with Single Mothers are for Grown Men, ONLY! and drain the preconceived notions, biases, and stereotypes once and for all, particularly as they pertain to dating and relationships.This is not some pity-ridden manual about how single moms should feel sorry for themselves. They have nothing to feel sorry about. In fact, they should be feeling the exact opposite if despite what they have to put up with, they're still able to hold their heads up and put one foot in front of the other. This is 130 pages of facts, analogies, and practical examples of how single mothers have been framed for moral crimes they've never committed, and underappreciated for the should-be obvious positive qualities they possess. It's time for a perspective adjustment. If you agree, then you've found the right book. If you don't, then challenge me to change your mind, and yes, I accept.