ABSTRACT

This policy note highlights contemporary research on single parents, and reflects on its implications for social policy developments in the European Union. Three directions of thought are developed regarding single parents’ resources, employment and social policies. The aim is to expand the scope of choice among policy alternatives for policy makers. The rise of shared residence urges us to reconsider the gendered nature of single parenthood, considering how to support separated fathers to be involved in their children’s life. Employment can come with all kinds of advantages, but earnings are often inadequate for single parents to guarantee a poverty-free existence. With respect to redistributive social policies, single parents’ economic position can be heavily affected by policies that are not specifically designed for single parents, or even for families with children. This brings into focus, analogue to gender mainstreaming, the importance of mainstreaming family diversity.

摘要

本政策说明重点介绍了对单亲父母的当代研究，并反思了其对欧盟社会政策发展的影响。围绕单亲父母的资源、就业和社会政策发展了三个思想方向。目的是扩大政策制定者的政策选择范围。共享居所的兴起促使我们重新考虑单亲家庭的性别本质，考虑如何支持分居的父亲参与到他们孩子的生活中。就业可以带来各种优势，但单亲父母的收入往往不足以保证无贫困的生活。在再分配社会政策方面，单亲父母的经济地位可能会受到不是专门为单亲父母设计的政策的严重影响，甚至对于有孩子的家庭。与性别主流化类似，这使家庭多样性主流化的重要性成为焦点。