Single-Parent Families and In-Work Poverty

Arbeitspapier

Single-parent families face unique challenges when it comes to in-work poverty. Without a second caregiver and earner, single parents have to compete with dual-earner couples for their position in the earnings distribution. Facing precarious employment and gendered wage inequality, single-parent families face a high risk to experience poverty even when they are working. This chapter presents empirical evidence on in-work poverty and inadequate wages in the policy context of 18 OECD countries. The impact of family structure, occupation, regulations of part-time work, paid parental leave, and various redistributive policies are examined. We distinguish three distinct patterns of performance in countries' approach to in-work poverty among single parents: A balanced approach of ensuring low inequality on the labor market combined with redistribution, an unbalanced approach of combating in-work poverty mostly through redistribution, and an approach in which high inequality on the labor market is compensated with redistributive policies only to a very limited extent. Countries that rely on a balanced approach to reduce inequality on the labor market, both with respect to class and gender, combined with an adequate level of redistribution, seem best situated for a durable reduction of poverty among working single parents.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: LIS Working Paper Series ; No. 687

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Nieuwenhuis, Rense ; Maldonado, Laurie C.
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Luxembourg Income Study (LIS)
• (where): Luxembourg
• (when): 2017

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/169247
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:44 AM CET