References

"a global orientation that expresses the extent to which one has a pervasive, enduring though dynamic feeling of confidence that (1) the stimuli deriving from one's internal and external environments in the course of living are structured, predictable and explicable; (2) the resources are available to one to meet the demands posed by these stimuli; and (3) these demands are challenges, worthy of investment and engagement." (Antonovsky 1987: 19).

4.2 Thus, successful coping is dependent on being able to make sense of the stressor (comprehensibility), to strike a successful balance between demands and capabilities (manageability) and to be flexible in selecting coping behaviours (meaningfulness). The comprehensibility concept assumes a tendency to expect stimuli that confront one as making cognitive sense, as information that is ordered, consistent, structured, and clear, rather than chaotic, random, inexplicable and accidental. The manageability component assumes the tendency to expect the demands posed by these problems to be manageable. In other words, it evaluates the locus of control or a confidence that 'things will work out' (Antonovsky 1987). A tendency to see life as meaningful provides the motivational drive to engage in confrontation with the problems. Meaningfulness is the emotional component of the three concepts and it incorporates the social valuation of the person's activity by either society or by significant others.

4.3 In-depth qualitative research is ideally suited for this approach as it can detect different factors that may influence the categories. I have tried to operationalise this approach by breaking it down into a series of assessments used in the interviews, particularly in lone mothers' negotiating process with state benefits and lone mothering. A strong SOC provides a 'strong' basis for successful resolution of problems, has a positive impact on well-being and acts as a stress-buffer (Antonovsky and Sourani 1990).

4.4 The SOC is made up of three intertwined components: manageability, comprehensibility and meaningfulness. Hence, these components are being examined with regard to particular 'variables' that came out of the data and that could be grouped into mothers' perceived experiences with the past, the present and the future. The past concerns issues such as their childhood, debts and illnesses. The present and the future include their evaluation of mothering, state benefits, relative deprivation, housing, paid work, education, relationships and social support networks. Future plans or a general outlook on life are also a good coping indicator.

4.5 Operationally, lone mothers' accounts have been organised according to these particular 'variables'. Their characteristics were then examined according to the three components that make up the SOC concept: manageability, comprehensibility and meaningfulness. The evaluation of these 'variables' according to this principle led to the formation of three groups of lone mothers: those with high, medium and low SOC's. Lone mothers with a low SOC feel that most aspects of their lives are unmanageable, incomprehensible and meaningless. The individual case studies that follow show in more detail how the three levels of SOC were identified. The concept itself proved an invaluable tool that could be used as the basis for the creation of three type categories, especially as the SOC concept is informed by the data and their differences - and not by preconceived ideas about a typology.

4.6 Nonetheless, the type categorisation needed to be extended beyond the SOC concept to include other potential reasons for lone mothers' confidence and identity. Factors such as cultural and socio-demographic backgrounds and constraints also need to be examined. According to my judgement based on a thorough analysis of the interviews, three distinctive patterns arose out of the data that could make sense of the differences between the mothers' complex identities: 'pioneer', 'coper' and 'struggler'. 'Pioneers' have the highest SOC while 'strugglers' have the lowest SOC. In other words, 'pioneers' convey the sense that most aspects of their life situation are particularly manageable, comprehensible and meaningful. For example, a 'pioneer' is able to manage her situation between demands and capabilities and finds it meaningful to be a full-time mother and can make sense of her situation. In contrast, 'strugglers' feel that most aspects of their lives are unmanageable, incomprehensible and meaningless. The 'copers' may 'score' high on one component and low on another but are likely to have many mediocre SOC ratings in the relevant variables.

Types of Lone Mothers

5.1 Of the three distinctive patterns that arose out of the data, pioneers feel in control of their lives not only because they necessarily created their present life style intentionally but because they embrace change positively. This resembles Sennett's (1998) 'surfer' types who accept that decisions must and can be made under conditions of uncertainty and this feeds an optimistic outlook in life. Strugglers perceive that they have no control of their lives because they see it as externally determined. This bears some similarity to Sennett's (1998) 'drifter' types who experience the contingency and fragmentation of life as a loss and a threat.

5.2 Table 1 presents a useful summary as it describes the characteristics that I found relevant when analysing the interviews with state dependent lone mothers. They vary distinctively between each type category. While some variables describe lone mothers' negotiating process with mothering, paid work, state benefits and education for example, other variables describe general experiences, such as the experience of domestic violence and the perception of their own childhood. I have included all characteristics that were specific to each type category and have not distinguished between their explanatory and their descriptive values. Although they are obviously related, the research cannot prove that they are interdependent. I do not even distinguish between lone mothers' orientation and their situation because in my opinion, even their situation is a construct of their orientation, an evaluation.


Table 1: Type categories and characteristics

Type category characteristicsPioneer
Coper
Struggler
Perception of situationBased on choicesBased on choices & constraintsBased on constraints
Comments'I've got what I want'
is self-fulfilled
'Make the best out of situation' 'All goes wrong and feel paralysed'
Sense of Coherence Concept (SOC)Highest SOC
Medium SOC
Lowest SOC
Evaluation of situation Highly satisfied
Is chosen & actively created: 'professional' mothering
career break, catalyst
Satisfied as situation is temporary.
Desire to mother but mainly because of lack of alternatives
Very unsatisfied, despairs, is apathetic, hopeless, feels paralysed
State benefits evaluationIs used to fulfil ambitions/
Wage for mothering
Ambivalent but ok temporary because of lack of alternativeIs a right, the least the state can do
Relative deprivationMoney is low priority, anti-consumerist attitudeYes, but halted by budgeting, casual work or Childrearing BenefitYes, accelerated by the inability to budget & debts
Partnership orientationNone or latent male breadwinner expectation None or mostly male breadwinner orientation None. Fear of repeating negative experiences
Paid employmentNot in work by choiceNot searched or not found because of constraints Not found or not searched because of constraints
EducationNo or yes to primarily improve personal development No or yes to improve labour market chances, facilitate mothering or bridge unemployment No or vague aspiration
StigmatisationNo or doesn't care if yesNo or yes because of conformist attitude Yes
Lone mothers' social policy
Recommendation
None or perhaps fewer regulationsLess regulation, more training, education & labour market support More financial & labour market support
Childhood perceptionMostly positiveNeutral or negative Very negative
Domestic violence experienceMostly noSometimesAlways
Support network (family, friends)SatisfactorySatisfactory or unsatisfactoryPerceived isolation
OutlookOptimistPragmatist Pessimist

5.3 I am careful about the distinction between lone mothers' intentional and unintentional 'doings' and concentrate my type categorisation on lone mothers' identity and confidence. For example, a 'professional' mother is a 'pioneer type' if her primary goal is the upbringing of her child/ren and the desire to provide childcare herself. A 'professional' mother is a 'coper' when she cannot find alternatives for example and does not value mothering as a vocation. Education and paid work is another indicator for the categories. It may be that lone mothers' outlook to mothering, education and/or paid work is related to their categorisation. Pioneer and coper cases may feel highly satisfied about mothering or may have an education outlook that facilitates mothering while struggler borderline cases are dissatisfied about full-time mothering and would like to be in paid work instead. Furthermore, 'pioneer' types may be in education for personal development and as a means for self-fulfilment while 'coper' types are more 'practical' and want to increase their labour market chances and their income potential.

The Pioneer Type Category

6.1 The pioneer types may live an 'alternative lifestyle' and perceive themselves to have choices. The pioneer viewed motherhood and state dependency as a positive event in their life, as an achievement which they may or may not have chosen intentionally. For a couple of mothers lone motherhood was the only option of motherhood as they were not in a close relationship and perceived their fertility as decreasing. For the pioneer state-dependent full-time motherhood can have several meanings. It may serve as a 'career break' or it can act as a 'catalyst' whereby motherhood was a key milestone in making a biographical change, a transformation (Baily, 1999). State benefits may be an anticipated result of action and are used strategically as a means to facilitate a life style choice such as full-time mothering, artistry, education and hobbies. State benefits are perceived as a citizens' right, as a wage for mothering and as a fair exchange for paying taxes in the past. The pioneer's family and friends are not always supportive and the research could not find that the pioneer is part of a particular sub-culture as found by Duncan & Edwards (1999).

6.2 The pioneer type perceives their socio-economic interests and employment as secondary after their personal interests. Living with a small income is a temporary 'worth-while' sacrifice and sometimes even viewed as an asset. Of course, it is sometimes difficult to assess whether the pioneer woman does perhaps just post-rationalise, or self-justify a situation that she has not 'really' chosen. Nonetheless, she embraces changes more positively than the coper and struggler type.

The Coper Type Category

7.1 The coper is a pragmatist and manages a problem satisfactorily even if her ultimate goal is out of reach. She regards internal and external factors responsible for her situation and accepts her situation on state benefits as temporary although she has no specific end in sight. State benefits are accepted as a legitimate form to secure a living as a temporary arrangement only and facilitate 'coping' while accumulated savings or casual work may ease the financial deprivation. This type uses their benefits constructively and 'makes the best' out of a situation.

7.2 The coper can have a paid employment orientation but at the same time her expectations, needs and skills may not be compatible with the labour market. She may not be prepared to work full-time and is unable to demand a sufficient wage working part-time. She appears to 'resign' to full-time motherhood or education but also does not lower her job expectations. Education may be used to enhance job opportunities or to facilitate part-time mothering as it tends to be more flexible. Children give meaning and help to get over crisis situations. In contrast to the struggler the coper type can rely on social support from friends and family that influences how these mothers create meaning.

The Struggler Type Category

8.1 The struggler type is characterised through her low sense of coherence (SOC) and low self-esteem. Everything seems too much for her and she despairs, is apathetic or highly dissatisfied. She has difficulties in rearing her children, problems with institutions, with budgeting and debts and she feels financially deprived. She blames the 'system' or institutions for her situation. Her contact with the local state benefit offices and Job Centres are perceived as negative and discriminatory. As a lone mother on state benefits, she feels stigmatised and excluded from a society to which she would like to belong but never has, not even before she became a mother. The struggler feels lonely, has little or no social network and is disappointed that friends and family are not offering support. She blames her children and the unsatisfactory childcare system for her unemployment and state dependency. In my study, the struggler type also had experienced domestic violence and a negative childhood. Some of these women may suffer from depression and/or drug addictions. It is noteworthy that these characteristics are not necessarily class specific. For example, domestic violence is not a problem confined to lower socio-economics groups (Dobash and Dobash, 1992;Schröttle, 1999).

8.2 The next section discusses one case study for each type category to provide a detailed and in-depth account of the mother's creation of meaning as supposed to concentrating on family-work dilemmas. The pioneer and the coper type are from the German sample purely for illustration purposes and they are not a reflection of the findings in the respective welfare states.

Case Study of a Pioneer

9.1 Anne was born into a middle-class family in East Berlin. Her father was a theatre actor and her mother a housewife. She was at 44 years the oldest mother in the sample. Her son was six year old. She trained to become a theatre hairdresser and make-up artist and worked in film and TV. She always wanted to have a child and saved up for it because it was never her intention to combine work and mothering. Therefore, only after fifteen years in paid employment was she ready to give up work. Only then she felt that she had reached a certain maturity that allowed her to cope with a child.

9.2 When she was 38, Anne had a son with her actor partner of 12 years who was unable to support them. He was unemployed and did not live with them. Anne only applied for state benefits when her savings were all gone. She felt that state benefits were a fair exchange for her tax contributions in the past. According to state benefit regulations she should have been searching for paid work once Moritz was three years old. But instead, she negotiated an additional three years Childrearing Leave with the authorities. Anne viewed state benefits as a privilege that enabled her to stay at home with her son. She managed well on a low income of about 300 Euros (£150) a month after bills partly because she knew it was only temporary and partly because she perceived her anti-consumerist attitude as a virtue.

I don't need anything, because I have everything. I have everything but no new items. I don't need anything, nothing. I don't need clothes. I don't need anything new. I have no television set. I can live with what I've got. Somehow it works, because I told myself, it is much nicer and more important that we experience something rather than consume something (...) I can cope well on state benefits. I have no problems whatsoever and I am not embarrassed at all. The opposite is the case. That I can receive Income Support now and be able to stay at home, that makes me proud and happy; that I have the opportunity to care for my child and the state pays for this.

9.3 Anne dedicated her life to her child in that she made sure that she was always available to him and she let him decide how and where they spent their time. For example, she rarely met her friends because she didn't want to exclude Moritz and leave him to play by himself. She also went to bed with him until he was asleep when she got up again to do the domestic chores. Furthermore, being child centred, she felt that she could not be a partner as well as a parent. Her son saw his father about twice a week. She did not want to be in paid employment because she was convinced that the children of working mothers experience separation anxiety. This anxiety was her reason for breastfeeding Moritz for five years, until he gave it up himself:

The children of working mothers will have an unfulfilled life because they constantly yearn after comfort and intimacy (Geborgenheit), because they have never experienced it during their childhood. And that results in communication difficulties, in paranoia, and partnership problems. I think that nature designed it that way, that the children cut the umbilical cord to the mother and not the other way around. In our society I feel it's the other way round. They cannot get rid of the feeling that they are constantly left by someone.

9.4 I define Anne as a pioneer because she negotiated her set of values without much support from her friends and family nor by being part of a particular sub-culture. Her views may be essentialist and naturalistic but they are her own. Although Anne realised that her situation was only temporary she had no immediate plans to return to paid employment and was unaware of her chances for employment. When I interviewed her for the second time one year later she still had no immediate plans to return but was involved in volunteer work at the alternative private school her son attended and for which he won a scholarship. Although she lived on a very low income she did not feel poor because state benefits enabled her to realise full-time mothering. She created meaning mainly about state dependency and mothering rather than her lone motherhood situation and her relationship with the father of her child which was less important.

Case Study of a Coper

10.1 Steffi was 26 years old and had a three year old daughter in West Berlin. Her mother was working class, a lone mother and had looked after four children. But when Steffi was eight years old she re-married a postman who Steffi thought of as her father or 'dad'. Steffi left school with her GCSEs and trained for two years to become a dental assistant. She continued working for a further five years until her Childrearing Leave. Her pregnancy was unplanned but welcomed by both her and her partner of two years, a physiotherapy student. After one year childrearing leave, Steffi returned to work, sending her daughter to a childminder. Although her employer was initially keen for her to return to work in his small dental practice, he fired her six months later because he was concerned that her child's potential for illness would make her attendance unreliable: 'Everyone told me I should take him to court and I said no, all doctors stick together. And when you take him to court you will never get a job again.'

10.2 Initially, she was very optimistic about finding another job as a dental assistant but she has had 20 unsuccessful job interviews for a part-time job in the last one-and-a-half years. She felt discriminated against because she had a child but she was also disadvantaged because of her insufficient computer and x-ray skills. She enrolled on a computer course but was not prepared to compromise on the hours she worked. This was influenced by her experience of 'bad' mothering when she had previously worked full-time:

My partner's sister was my childminder and I paid her to care from eight in the morning until seven or seven thirty. (...) That worked quite well but also in a negative way and I was disappointed and hurt because she started saying 'mama' to the childminder. That is my main reason for not wanting to work full-time anymore. (...) I want to work part-time to have some space for myself somehow, to do things for myself. Somehow I want a distraction too, and not only be a mother but to have responsibility for other things. And I like my job. It makes me more balanced.

10.3 The father did not pay any child maintenance but she was only marginally worse off living on state benefits. Although she felt ambivalent about state dependency she justified it as a fair exchange for her paying taxes in the past and because she tried to get paid work. She also valued state benefits as an enabler:

Nowadays it is made easy to give up on a family. I do like it that there is such a thing (state benefits). Otherwise you wouldn't know what to do at all. Then you really would have to live on the street with your child. Somehow you are really supported as a lone mother.

10.4 Steffi did not want to send her three-year old daughter into a Kindergarten while she was still unemployed. She and her partner separated but she had hopes that they would eventually get back together again and he saw their daughter once or twice a week. They had drifted apart because of his long studying and working hours but this meant that her situation has not changed much as she was mostly alone with her daughter anyway.

10.5 Steffi is an interesting case because of her experience of employer discrimination and her integral working/mothering outlook. Steffi is categorised as a coper because she was ambivalent about state dependency by evaluating it as stigmatising as well as enabling. She is a pragmatist and only managed not to feel stigmatised because she hid the fact that she was dependent on state-benefits. She is a coper because she felt positive about the temporary nature of her situation and made the best out of her mothering situation. She perceived some but not all aspects of her situation as meaningful, manageable and comprehensible. She made internal and external factors responsible for her unemployment but financially, she coped satisfactorily. She experienced employment discrimination and it is a fact that dental assistants are typically female, young, independent and flexible, although she hardly mentioned her lack of certain vocational qualifications in her explanation.

Case Study of a Struggler

11.1 Jane was white, 21 years old and had a three year old boy and an eight months old daughter. She was born in London to working-class parents who were on Income Support for most of their lives. She had her first experience of care away from home when she was still a baby:
There are certain things my social worker has told me, like from three months old I had bruises all over my head, my face (...) My dad used to beat me all the time. I was put in care for a little while when I was a baby. Then my parents got me back and from the age of 13, 14, my dad sexually abused me. I was locked in my bedroom. With a bucket as a toilet. (...) When my dad was in prison, I set my mom's flat on fire. I set the whole house on fire.

11.2 She ran away from home and although she requested foster care she also ran away from foster families because she found the places too strict. Instead, she lived on the streets. At school Jane was bullied because of her cleft pallet and her learning difficulties and she left school at 15 with no qualifications. She became pregnant but her partner left her for her 15 year old sister who also became pregnant by him. She was against abortion and always wanted children albeit at a later stage as she was homeless at that time.

11.3 She hoped to consolidate her situation with another partner and had a second child, a daughter. She was devastated when she learned that this partner had fathered a child with another woman at the same time. Her partner left both mothers and although he came to visit about once a month he had no relationship with his daughter and did not pay maintenance because he was unemployed. Her son's father denied fatherhood and was no longer traceable. These experiences influenced her very negative view of men. Financially, she experienced serious deprivation because she could neither budget nor manage on her benefits. 'Sometimes I have to borrow money. I can't budget. I have never been taught how to budget money. Never. So when my money was in my hand, it is gone the same day.' She felt under enormous pressure and feared losing her children:

I've got to make sure everything is alright. My kids will be taken off me and put into care because I haven't got enough money to support my kids. And it is not right. It is not fair. (...) Sometimes my daughter is not well, like she has diarrhea whatever. I haven't got the money to buy her nappies. (...) Last year I was homeless and my son went into foster care (for four months while she registered herself as homeless to get a flat).