Συγγραφέας
Matter Sonja
Τίτλος
No Right to Family Life? Single Mothers and their Children in a “Mixed Economy of Welfare” in Switzerland, 1930s–1950s
Περιοδικό
Historein: A review of the past and other stories
Τεύχος
21(2)
Έτος
2024
Σύνδεσμος
https://doi.org/10.12681/historein.32564
Περίληψη (Συγγραφέα)
In Switzerland single mothers, especially from the working class, were rarely able to support themselves and their children as a result of widespread discrimination against women in the labor market throughout the 20th century. Focusing on the case records of the social welfare of the city of Bern from the 1930s to 1950s, the article examines to what extent single mothers benefited from a ‘mixed economy of welfare’. The article points out that after the Second World War, social welfare measures were expanded with the introduction of widows’ and survivors’ insurance and the establishment of family allowances. While these new social insurance schemes undoubtedly brought improvements, the article shows that single mothers continued to experience practices of social exclusions. Especially, the combination of welfare dependency on the one hand, and guardianship measures on the other, often resulted in the out-of-home placement of the children of single mothers.
Λέξεις-Κλειδιά (Συγγραφέα)
mixed economy of welfare, gender, welfare state, children, family
Ετικέτες
Κοινωνική καταπίεση – περιορισμοί
Επιστημονικό Πεδίο
Ιστορία
Παρατηρήσεις
Ειδικό Τεύχος “Gendering the Mixed Economies of Welfare: Ruptures and Trajectories in Postwar Europe”. Επιμέλεια: Έφη Αβδελά, Δήμητρα Λαμπροπούλου.
Βιβλιογραφική Αναφορά
Matter, S. (2024). No Right to Family Life? Single Mothers and their Children in a “Mixed Economy of Welfare” in Switzerland, 1930s–1950s. Historein: A review of the past and other stories, 21(2); https://doi.org/10.12681/historein.32564