Kay Standing

Lone Mothers and ‘Parental’ Involvement: A Contradiction in Policy?

A B S T R AC T At the same time as the number of lone mother families has been increasing, education policy has demanded more involvement in children’s schooling from ‘parents’ (i.e., mothers). Social policy in this area is inherently contradictory, encouraging lone mothers into paid employment on the one hand, whilst imploring mothers to ‘help’ in (and out of) the classroom on the other. Whilst lone mothers become scapegoats for all societal ills, parental involvement schemes are seen to solve society’s ‘problems’. Drawing on data from a research project, this article begins to examine the contradictions within and between these policies for low income lone mothers.

Mothers and work–life balance: exploring the contradictions and complexities involved in work–family negotiation

This article presents data from a project exploring womens experiences of work and care. It focuses primarily on work–life balance as a problematic concept. Social and economic transformations across advanced post-industrial economies have resulted in concerns about how individuals manage their lives across the two spheres of work and family and achieve a work–life balance. Governments across the European Union have introduced various measures to address how families effectively combine care with paid work. Research within this area has tended to focus on work–life balance as an objective concept, which implies a static and fixed state fulfilled by particular criteria and measured quantitatively. Qualitative research on womens experiences reveals work–life balance as a fluctuating and intangible process. This article highlights the subjective and variable nature of work–life balance and questions taken-for-granted assumptions, exploring problems of definition and the differential coping strategies which women employ when negotiating the boundaries between work and family.

The effect of the ‘People’s War’ on schooling in Nepal, 1996–2006

This article focuses on the impact on schools and schooling of the ten-year ‘People’s War’ in Nepal between 1997 and 2007. It draws on research conducted in schools under a British Council funded Higher Education link 1 from 2000 to 2006. In particular, we examine the role that education played in creating and sustaining the conflict in Nepal owing to the important role of the school in the community and the inequalities in the Nepalese education system. Data from the research reveals differences in terms of gender, caste and location. The article argues that conflict around schools not only impacts on children and education but also on the wider communities, and that education can be both a cause of, and a solution to, conflict.

Citizenship rights and women's roles in development in post-conflict Nepal

Despite human rights abuses, the ten-year conflict in Nepal brought aspects of empowerment to women, changing their role in the family and community, as women became active outside the home, challenged the security forces, and began to assert their rights as citizens. Drawing on a research project into the participation of women in community development projects in three areas of Nepal, the present article examines how far development agencies in the post-conflict period have succeeded in furthering womens citizenship rights, and in giving voice to womens concerns and participation. It argues that development organisations and agencies have continued to operate mostly without including the voices of women, and women are disappointed by these non-participatory and top-down development models, which are leaving womens status as second-class citizens unchallenged. Women are consequently exploring alternatives. The article uses examples from the field and interviews and focus groups with marginalised women and non-government organisation workers to suggest ways in which development agencies can work with participatory models to advance womens citizenship rights. Given the diversity of social groups and peoples and gender relations in Nepal, the present article will also raise critical questions about the form and content of womens participation, and the intersections of gender, class, caste, and ethnicity on citizenship rights.

The disconnection between policy practices and women's lived experiences: Combining work and life in the UK and the Netherlands

Combining work and family life is central to womens participation in the labour market. Work–life balance has been a key objective of UK and Dutch policy since the 1990s, but policies created at the national level do not always connect with the day to day experiences of women juggling caring and domestic responsibilities with paid work. Using qualitative data from a European Social Fund Objective 3 project the paper explores womens lived realities of combining work and family life in the UK in comparison to the Netherlands as a possible ‘best practices’ model. We argue that women in both countries experience work–life balance as an ongoing process, continually negotiating the boundaries of work and family, and that there needs to be a more sophisticated appreciation of the differing needs of working parents. Whilst policy initiatives can be effective in helping women to reconcile dual roles, many women in both the UK and the Netherlands still resolve these issues at the individual or personal level and feel that policy has not impacted on their lives in any tangible way.

Negotiating the Home and the School: Low Income, Lone Mothering and Unpaid Schoolwork

At the same time as the number of lone-mother families living on low incomes has increased (Department of Social Security, 1993), schools and education policy in the UK has demanded the greater involvement of parents in their children’s schooling (Department of Education, 1994). Parental involvement, however, is presented as an ungendered concept — ungendered on paper but not in practice. It is primarily mothers who are involved in the day-to-day work of their children’s schooling, regardless of their marital situation (Lareau, 1989; Reay, 1995; David et al., 1996) — it is maternal, rather than parental involvement — and performed under differing material conditions.

License to cause harm? Sex entertainment venues and women's sense of safety in inner city centres

A growing body of evidence looks at violence and harm caused to women working in lap dancing clubs. However, little attention has been paid to the wider impact of the licensing of sex entertainment venues (SEVs) on womens sense of safety and well-being in city centres where they are concentrated. This article contributes to the debate around the licensing of lap dancing clubs and gendered harm, using testimonies from a participatory photography research project facilitated by Sara Parker. Findings support feminist arguments that womens sense of safety and wellbeing in public spaces is compromised by the widespread use of sexualised imagery of women and girls in public spaces and by the growth of SEVs such as lap dancing clubs.

Grassroots responses to violence against women and girls in post-earthquake Nepal: lessons from the field

ABSTRACT Violence against women and girls (VAWG), including sexual violence, can increase after natural disasters. This article provides evidence from Nepal, a country where progress has been made on gender equality but VAWG remains an endemic problem. Research since the earthquakes involving women activists and non-government organisations indicates the continuing challenges facing disaster response efforts to prevent VAWG and protect women. Women and girls in camps and temporary shelters feel threatened and insecure due to the risk of violence and lack of privacy. Humanitarian aid, health care, and disaster responses can challenge VAWG, and offer safe spaces for women and girls to be established. This article draws on the views of grassroots women’s activists in Nepal and shares lessons for development and humanitarian workers about steps to be taken to challenge and minimise VAWG in emergency situations.