Lone mothers and policy discourse in New Zealand

Lone mother families are seen as a major policy problem facing governments throughout the OECD. Responses to this problem in New Zealand, as in many o ther countries, are couched in terms of imposing work and training programm es to encourage exit from dependency on government financial support. This article uses ideas of 'needs talk' and discourse coalitions to explore the language of policy framing. Two periods in the development of the women's m ovement in New Zealand during which opportunities within political institut ions have been available to women are examined. It is argued that an uninte nded consequence of naming needs for many women has been to contribute to t he marginalisation of needs of lone mothers and indirectly to encourage pol icies which seek control and normalisation of this group.