Chapter 4: Material Deprivation and Personal Wellbeing of Single Mothers in Lithuania

Single mothers are one of the most vulnerable groups in society in the good times, but even more so in the bad times following an economic crisis. Generally, single-mother families in many countries are exposed to high risk of poverty, social exclusion and lower overall quality of life (Härkönen, 2017b; Kilkey & Bradshaw, 1999; Maldonado & Nieuwenhuis, 2015). If not targeted by the welfare state policies, these families most likely become sites of accumulated disadvantages, which are transmitted between generations and might strengthen social inequalities (Bernardi & Boertien, 2016; McLanahan & Percheski, 2008). However, single motherhood per se is not accountable for the risk of poverty and negative intergenerational outcomes; research proves that not the family structure, but mainly the lack of income and material hardship associated with ‘separation penalty’ lead to the negative long-term effects for mothers and children (McLanahan & Jacobsen, 2015). Obviously, not all women raising children alone are exposed to the similar degree of disadvantage, since they represent a heterogeneous group in regards to their education and social class standing (Härkönen, 2017b; Rowlingson & McKay, 2005). However, in many countries, the gap in education of single motherhood is large and/or growing, thus the increasing share of single motherhood concentrated at the bottom of educational ladder (Härkönen, 2017a) and exposed to the intensified risk of poverty and disadvantage. The penalty of single motherhood might be substantially mitigated by social policy measures. Generous, comprehensive and universal welfare state decreases the poverty of single-mother families, and the social policy context matters as much or even more for the wellbeing of single women with children than the individual characteristics (Brady & Burroway, 2012).