Sources of income for lone mother families: Policy changes in Britain and the Netherlands and the experiences of divorced women

The Netherlands and Britain have treated lone mother families in similar wa ys in the post-war period. Until very recently they have been alone among c ountries of the EU in allowing lone mothers to draw benefits without making themselves available for work so long as they have dependent children. At the beginning of the 1990s, both countries attempted (unsuccessfully) to en force the obligation of 'absent fathers' to maintain. In 1996, the Dutch go vernment took decisive steps towards treating lone mothers as workers rathe r than mothers, In Britain, the last Conservative government began to move in the same direction, something that has been confirmed by the new Labour government. This article reviews the structure and characteristics of lone motherhood in the two countries and the nature of the recent policy changes , It then reports the findings of an exploratory qualitative study of divor ced mothers in both countries. The evidence from the interviews reveals the strength of the primary commitment that women in both countries make to ca re. It also shows the difficulties divorced women face in combining paid an d unpaid work, which, we suggest make the pendulum swing from treating lone mothers as mothers, to treating them as workers unrealistic.