Lone Parent Families, Work and Social Care

Transcription

1 New kinds of families, new kinds of social care SOCCARE PROJECT, work package 2 Lone Parent Families, Work and Social Care A qualitative comparison of care arrangements in Finland, Italy, Portugal, the UK and France Synthesis report coordinated by Claude MARTIN and Antoine VION Contributors: John Baldock, Sonia Correia, Jan Hadlow, Teppo Kröger, Alessandro Pratesi, José Saõ José, Simonetta Simoni, Jorma Sipilä, Rossana Trifilietti, Karin Wall, Minna Zechner January

2 TABLE OF CONTENTS List of tables and figures... 4 Summary... 6 Introduction... 8 I. Scientific and operational objectives of the project... 8 II. Work content and methodology of the project... 9 PART I. LONE PARENTHOOD AND CHILD CARE POLICIES: NATIONAL PATTERNS I. Lone parent families in Europe: general trends and differences Poverty: twice as high for lone parent families as for all households Social transfers reducing the poverty rate of lone parent families Three groups of lone parent families Drawing a map of European lone parent families...18 II. The national cases: lone parent families and child care policies Finland Lone parents: main characteristics Child care provision France Lone parents: main characteristics Child care provision Portugal Lone parents: main characteristics Child care provision Italy Lone parents: main characteristics Child care provision in the two cities of the sample United Kingdom Lone parents: main characteristics Child care provision...50 III. The national samples of lone parent families The Finnish sample The French sample The Portuguese sample The Italian sample The UK sample Working hours and child care in the national samples...57 PART II. INTERNATIONAL COMPARISON OF CARE ARRANGEMENTS OF LONE PARENT FAMILIES I. Shaping care arrangements Social structures (institutions and networks) and the predictability of care arrangements Constraints and resources Trajectories and identities Roles and individualisation Values produced by the care arrangement...65 II. Type 1: familial arrangements Subtype: family support to young lone single mothers Common characteristics National variations Individual variations Subtype: family support to adult lone mothers Common characteristics

3 2.2. National variations Individual variations Subtype: post-break shared care Common characteristics National variations Individual variations...80 III. Type 2: varied arrangements Subtype: strong basis of formal care within extra support Common characteristics National variations Individual variations Subtype: strong basis of home services in extensive segments of extra-support Common characteristics Variations...89 IV. Type 3: isolated lone parents Subtype: lone-lone parents Common characteristics National variations Individual variations Subtype: formally assisted lone parents Common characteristics Local variations Individual variations Subtype: self-sufficient lone parents Common characteristics Individual examples IV. Conclusion: main results of the qualitative comparison Main trends within each subtype Easiness of access to work Predictability of the daily care arrangement Independence in relation to family support The involvement of absent fathers in daily child care arrangements Main elements of comparison given by the whole sample Convergences: predominance of varied arrangements amongst working lone parents Contrasts: dependence on formal support versus dependence on informal support Impact of micro-changes PART III. CHILDCARE POLICY-MAKING FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF LONE PARENTHOOD I. Lone parenthood as a variable political issue in the five countries II. Contribution of SOCCARE Work Package 2 to the understanding of structural changes within child care policies Child care innovations Day care services with flexible opening hours Innovative means of home help Expansion of the voluntary sector State compensation for the social security contributions of registered childminders Mutual help between lone parents Flexibility and time inequalities III. Contribution of SOCCARE Work Package 2 to a new definition of the problem References Finland France Italy Portugal United Kingdom

4 List of tables and figures Figure 1. The structure of the SOCCARE project 10 Table 1. Households with children aged under 25 in Europe in Table 2. Marital status and labour market activity of lone parents in the EU area, all lone parent families (isolated or included) in Table 3. Working conditions of employed lone parents in the EU area in 1996, all lone parent families (isolated or included) 13 Table 4. The living standard of lone parent families in Europe in Figure 2. Poverty of European lone parent families 15 Figure 3. Proportion of the lone parent families under the poverty threshold before and after social and private transfers 17 Table 5. Finnish families by type in , per cent of all families 19 Table 6. Families with children under 18 by type in Finland in , per cent of all families with children children under Table 7. Children under 18 by type of their family in Finland in , per cent of all children under Table 8. The position of Finnish lone parents in the labour market by age of their youngest child in 1996, per cent of all lone parent families 20 Table 9. Under-school-age children in publicly financed day care in Finland in 1998, per cent of age group* 22 Table 10: Number of lone parent families in France in 1990 and Table 11. Number of lone parent families in France in 1990 and 2000 by marital status and age 23 Table 12: Lone parents in France in 1990 and 2000 by age and marital status, in % 24 Table 13: Number and age of children in lone parent families and other families with children in France in 1990 and Table 14: Level of qualification of French lone mothers compared to other mothers in 1990 and Table 15: Proportion of lone parents working according to ILO criteria (%) 26 Table 16. Self-declared and ILO unemployment among French lone parents, % 26 Table 17. Working conditions of lone mothers in France, % 27 Table 18. Satisfaction of lone mothers and other mothers with work conditions in France 28 Table 19. Structure of income of lone parent families in France 31 Table 20. Structures and volume of child care services for under-3-year-old and under-6-year-old children in France 32 Table 21. Marital status of lone parens with at least one child under 18 in Portugal, by parent s age, N and % 34 Table 22. Level of education of lone parents in Portugal, by marital status 35 Table 23. Employment status of lone parent families with children under 18 years of age in Portugal, by levels of schooling, N and % 35 Table 24. Sample estimate of lone parent families with dependent children and with children of all ages in Italy 42 Table 25. Sample estimate of lone mothers with dependent children in Italy, by age group 43 Table 26. Sample estimate of lone mothers with dependent children in Italy, by civil status 44 Table 27. Sample estimate of lone fathers with dependent children in Italy, by civil status 44 Table 28. Employment of lone mothers and mothers in couple families with dependent children in Italy 45 Table 29. Births by teenage mothers in Italy 46 Table 30. Total and out-of-wedlock fertility in different geographical regions of Italy, average Table 31. Participation of lone mothers in paid work in the UK in Table 32. Married women and lone mothers with dependent children in Great Britain, proportions working full-time and part-time 50 Table 33. Combinations of child care used by employed mothers with dependent children in the UK in1991, % using each type of combination. 51 Table 34. The Finnish sample of lone parent families by income*, marital status and age of youngest child 54 Table 35. The French sample of lone parent families by income, marital status and age of youngest child 55 Table 36. The Portuguese sample of lone parent families by income, marital status and age of youngest child 56 Table 37. The Italian sample of lone parent families by income, marital status and age of youngest child 56 Table 38. The UK sample of lone parent families by income*, marital status and age of children 57 Table 39. The national samples of lone parent families by working hours and child care during work 58 4

5 Table 40. Distribution of the national samples of lone parent families according to the typology of the care arrangements 60 Table 41. Main characteristics of the typical arrangements 108 Table 42. Distribution of the cases 109 Table 43. Perception of the child carers in the policy systems 123 5

6 Summary This report describes and analyses child care arrangements of lone parent families in Finland, France, Italy, Portugal and the UK. The report is produced by the SOCCARE project that is funded by the European Commission, 5 th Framework Programme, Key Action for Socio-Economic Research. This report gathers the main results from national reports that have been written by national project teams based on interviews of 25 working lone parents in each of the five countires. The report also analyses the work care balancing within the total sample and develops a comparative typology. Part I of the report uses available statistical data and earlier research to describe the conditions of lone parent families in the EU member states, especially in the five project countries. There has happened a distinctive change in the routes to lone parenthood: widows are now only a minority, greatly outnumbered by divorced and separated lone parents. Also single, never-married lone parents are on the increase. However, the most lone parents are far over 30 years old. In spite of the considerable effect of social and private transfers, poverty is still twice as usual among lone parent families as among the whole population. This is the situation even though over two thirds of lone parents in the EU are participating in the labour market. Overall, there is huge variation within the group of lone parent families in Europe, as well between as within countries, and they should not be regarded as a homogenous group with identical needs and living conditions. Part I ends with descriptions of the national samples of lone parent families used in this study and in Part II, the qualitative data from these interviews are analysed. The study focuses on the contraints and resources that European lone parents face in their everyday lives in combining paid employment with care for their children. The primary interest of the report is to analyse and understand the strategies that lone parents use in organising their and their children's lives under the existing social and labour market constraints. The report distinguishes three main strategies, three major types of care arrangements. (1) In familial arrangements, child care is organised primarily within the family and the use of formal services is limited to standard forms of day care and school. (2) Varied arrangements cover different kinds of individual strategies that mix family support, formal services and support from the extra-family social network. (3) In isolated arrangements, informal support as well from family members as from the social network is weak and the arrangement is mostly based on formal child care. Furthermore, each of these main types is divided into two or three subtypes of care arrangements. Within each subtype, national and individual variations are analysed. The relationships between care arrangements and personal trajectories and identities as well as roles and values are studied. Distance to work, predictability of the care arrangement, in/dependence in relation to family support and the involvement of absent parents emerged as central themes, being repeated in most interviews, influencing considerably the care arrangements of lone parent families. Also the level of income proved to be important. 6

7 In all countries, most lone parents aim to balance work, formal care and private intimate care. However, there can not really be seen a convergence towards a common European model. Decisive differences seem to remain between the national contexts. For example, the collectivisation and externalisation of child care continues to be higher in Finland and France, whereas community arrangements are more likely in Italy, while Portugal is at a turning point. Furthermore, the British cases have unique characteristics, such as usual experiences of multiple couple life and impoverishment. However, national policies proved not to fully determine the care arrangements, either, as the qualitative analysis showed that every care arrangement is applied to individually specific conditions within the contraints of existing labour market and child care service structures. Finally, Part III discusses the empirical results in their national political and policy frames. It also presents innovations in child care, home help services and mutual help between lone parents, seen in the data. Public services are gradually starting to develop care services that are more responsive to the variation in needs of European families. However, still today, the care arrangement of each family has actually to be seen as an innovation as it has to overcome the existing gaps in service provision and the inflexibilities of work conditions. The report ends with a discussion about the potential of qualitative comparative research. Quantitative statistical data that describe family structures and formal provisions say, after all, very little about the everyday life and actual care arrangements of families. Qualitative research may go beyond this and, for example, analyse the complex interrelationships of individual trajectories and social systems. 7

8 Introduction This report is the second step in a research project concerning the transformation of family structures, work organisation and social care in Europe (SOCCARE), in which we are analysing four types of families: lone parent, multicareer, migrant and multigeneration families. Five national research teams are working together in the production and analysis of the data: the coordination team from Finland: Minna Zechner, Teppo Kröger and Jorma Sipilä (scientific director of the project); the Italian team: Rossana Trifiletti (responsible of the Italian team), Simonetta Simoni, Alessandro Pratesi; the Portuguese team: Karin Wall (responsible of the Portuguese team), Jose São Jose, Sonia Correia; the French team: Claude Martin (responsible of the French team), Antoine Vion and the British team: John Baldock (responsible of the English team) and Jan Hadlow. Before presenting the results of this particular work package on lone parent families, we have to resume quickly the entire objectives of our project. I. Scientific and operational objectives of the project Social care is a universal and familiar phenomenon but its flexible organisation and co-operation between informal communities and formal organisations has been problematic in all European welfare states. Traditional policies have often been onedimensional, emphasizing only certain providers and services while excluding or marginalising others. Due to the ongoing profound changes in European family structures, working patterns and welfare systems, the problems of providing social care in a flexible and responsive way are becoming even more urgent, forming one of the major policy questions of Europe in the 21 st century: how can policies support European families so that these will continue to be able to cope with the social care needs of their members? For European socio-economic research the question is how to support the shaping of such policies. This project studies social care arrangements of European families in five different socio-economic and cultural environments. It focuses on four key family types that have all been heavily affected by the ongoing socio-economic and structural changes within European societies. The overarching objective of the research project is to discover how public policies and social services can more efficiently and responsively help families to cope with their care responsibilities and to combine these with employment. More detailed objectives of the project are: to identify innovative methods for combining family and formal care provision for young children and older people, to describe and explain social care arrangements used by four key family types most affected by demographic, economic and labour market changes, to identify the challenges to existing welfare arrangements as they are perceived by users, providers, professionals, managers and policy makers from the local to the 8

9 European level, to identify and analyse the most sustainable and flexible arrangements for social care in the context of labour market needs and the competitive challenges faced by European nations, to add to existing statistical data on social change and social care in Europe by providing a more qualitative account of social processes, to create a sound basis for the further exploitation of the findings through both continuing research and direct inputs into policy design and social care practice. In this project, we study four family types facing particular forms of pressure and stress. These family categories are (1) lone parent families, (2) multi-career families, (3) migrant families and (4) multi-generation families. In these families, skilled intersectoral and interorganisational co-operation is required to reach satisfactory care arrangements. This study is managed in five different environments that represent the variety of European welfare states (Finland, France, Italy, Portugal and the UK). The findings are analysed comparatively in close co-operation between national research teams. Securing social care for all citizens and under all conditions is inherent in the social objectives and cultural values specific to Europe. Ways need to be found to sustain this European commitment in the face of international economic competition. This research aims at shaping a framework in which such policy-making that combines needs, resources and motivations in new and more adequate ways could take place. The future of social care in Europe has implications which are local, regional, national and international. This project includes a bottom-up evaluation of the policies practised at all these levels of government. We focus on how European families and their formal environments may co-operate and combine their resources in order to construct social care in innovative and flexible ways. The barriers that prevent successful solutions are also examined. We analyse these issues from two key perspectives; the experiences and understandings of the families; and those of local providers and service managers. Research results are thoroughly discussed with end-users, first with social care experts at the local level, and then with an international expert group that represents different user groups from all the current 15 EU member states. Specific resources are required and reserved to organise these workshops. Thus, a constant dialogue with experts from the different levels is embedded in the proposal. The final aim of the project is to provide a major contribution towards shaping a functioning framework for future policies on social care in Europe. II. Work content and methodology of the project The present report corresponds to the second work package of the SOCCARE project, as shown in the following figure. In the first part of this report, we present the main results and data available to understand the different national variations of lone parenthood, in Europe and in the five national cases. Then, in the second part, we are going to analyse the main caring arrangements in detail and finally, in the third part, we will discuss our main results in terms of comprehension of these situations and in terms of policy framing. 9

10 Figure 1. The structure of the SOCCARE project 10

11 PART I. LONE PARENTHOOD AND CHILD CARE POLICIES: NATIONAL PATTERNS The number of lone parent families has increased regularly in all European countries during the past decades. They represent nowadays around 12% of all European families with children under 25 years of age. These families are particularly vulnerable in terms of care arrangements. They have to face a strong pressure on the double front of their family responsibilities and work life. The force of the pressure depends on the contributions of the ex-partner and the parental and social networks as well as on the accessibility of service providers. To compare the situation of these families at the European level, we first need to map out the macro-differences that may shape the possibilities to resolve the care needs. At the first glance, it is obvious that lone parent families are not in a comparable situation in each of the European countries. For example, a majority of lone mothers are poor in Britain, mainly because they are not employed, or employed in very precarious and small part-time jobs. On the contrary, in France, only around 15% of lone mothers are under the poverty threshold. Their situation depends mainly on three major individual factors: work, time and money; and on two external factors: social network and formal services. Before analysing the situation of lone parent families in terms of their care arrangements, constraints, choices and strategies, we first have to describe the general European situation and the main differences of conditions of these households. Then, we will present the five national cases in more detail, with special attention given to the formal supply of care in each country and to local variations. These are very important and may substantially affect our results about how some of the lone parent families (those who are included in the labour market) are taking care of their children under the double pressure of care needs and professional constraints. Finally, we will present our sample in each country. I. Lone parent families in Europe: general trends and differences 1 In 1996, 12% of European households with children aged under 25 were lone parent families. This proportion was significantly smaller in Spain (5%), Italy, Greece (7%) and Portugal (8%) than in the Netherlands and in Austria (10%). On the other hand, it was clearly higher in Belgium, Denmark (14%) and especially in Finland (19%) and in the United Kingdom (22%) (table 1). The figure for France was close to the Community average. 1 This presentation of the situation of lone parent families in Europe is based on the contribution of Christine Chambaz, researcher in the DREES (Direction of research, studies, statistics and evaluation of the Ministry of Social Affairs in France), to the SOCCARE seminar in Rennes in March A French version of her presentation has already been published by the DREES (Chambaz, 2000). 11

12 Table 1. Households with children aged under 25 in Europe in 1996 B DK D EL E F IRL I L NL A P FIN UK UE-14 Couples with one child Couples with 2 children Couples with 3 children or more Couples with children, one or more being over 25 Other types of households Isolated lone parent families Included lone parent families All Lone parent families Proportion of included Source: Eurostat, ECHP, wave 3 (1996)- DREES calculations Nevertheless, it is necessary to take into account also those lone parent families which are included in another household. Indeed, 2% of all European households include a lone parent family without being one themselves and this increases the proportion of households linked with lone parenthood to 14%. The number of these included lone parent families is particularly high in the South of Europe, which contributes to narrowing the gap between countries: for example, in Spain, 4% of households with children put up a lone parent family, so that included lone parent families account for more than 40% of all lone parent families. In the southern countries of Europe, not taking these families into account means neglecting 25% to 40% of the lone parent family phenomenon. Women are over-represented amongst lone parents, especially in Portugal (94%). On the other hand, Denmark, Luxembourg and Finland have the highest proportions of lone fathers (19 to 20%). In Spain, Italy and Greece, lone fathers are also quite numerous, but they are included in other households more often than lone mothers. European lone parents are on average 42 years old and hardly one out of ten is under 30. The share of these young lone parents varies widely from country to country, from 3-5% in Italy, Greece and Spain and 15% in Austria and Finland to as high as 18% in Ireland and 20% in the United Kingdom. In countries with many included lone parent families, these latter ones are mostly headed by young people. Elsewhere, included and isolated lone parents do not significantly differ in terms of age. Differences in age and gender fit differences in marital status. On average, 21% of parents without a partner are single, 22% are widowed and 57% are divorced or separated. In countries with a high proportion of lone parents aged under 30, the share of single parents is higher than 25%. It is highest in Denmark (34%). But in countries where lone parents are generally older, the number of widows is larger, as in Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain where it reaches 38 to 47% (table 2). 12

13 Table 2. Marital status and labour market activity of lone parents in the EU area, all lone parent families (isolated or included) in 1996 B DK D EL E F IRL I L NL A P FIN UK UE-14 Single, never married Married, divorced, separated Widowed Employed Unemployed Inactive Source: Eurostat, ECHP, wave 3 (1996)- DREES calculations On average, 59% of lone parents within EU member states are employed, 10% are unemployed and almost a third are inactive in the labour market (table 2). This employment rate remains however lower in Ireland (38%), in the United Kingdom (47%), in Spain (47%) and in the Netherlands (50%), while it is quite high in France (76%), Portugal (75%), Denmark (75%), Austria (74%) and Germany (71%). The high majority of working lone parents have a full-time job; on average, only 20% are working part-time (table 3). The part-time work percentage is higher for lone mothers than for the whole active population but it varies significantly between different countries, together with the national frequencies of part-time work. Thus, the share of lone parents who are working part-time is high in the Netherlands (43%), in the United Kingdom (39%) and in Ireland (38%) but also in Germany (27%) where parttime work is widespread. In these countries, lone mothers work part-time even more often than the population overall. There is one exception: in Denmark, where part-time work is relatively usual (16% of employed people), there are only quite few lone parents working in such a scheme (9%). Part-time work for lone parents is also less developed in Finland (5%), Portugal (8%) and Italy (8%), where the level is not only below the Community average, but also below national averages. In Greece, Spain and France, working lone parents have full-time jobs more often than what is the Community average but they remain over-represented amongst those working part-time. Table 3. Working conditions of employed lone parents in the EU area in 1996, all lone parent families (isolated or included) Proportion of working lone parents B DK D EL E F IRL I L NL A P FIN UK UE Full time work ns Part time work >15 h.p.w ns Part time work < 15 h.p.w Source: Eurostat, ECHP, wave 3 (1996)- DREES calculations 11 1 ns On average, the standard of living 2 of European lone parent families (isolated or included ) lies 23% below that of all households with children, and 27% below that of the whole population (table 4). But this lag could be more or less important depending on the country. The gap is broadest in the United Kingdom, where the standard of living 2 The standard of living is measured as equivalised income, family size being taken into account. 13

14 of lone parents is only 62% of that of families with children. On the other hand, the gap is very narrow in Luxembourg (97%), Austria (96%) and Greece (93%). This gap in the standard of living is not a characteristin of lone parenthood alone but concerns all households with only one employed person. Compared to families with children and one parent active (employed or unemployed) but the other inactive in the labour market, the gap in standard of living of lone parent families drops from 23% to 10% (table 4). It is zero or close to zero in Denmark, Portugal, Greece, Italy and Spain. The United Kingdom has still the largest one (24%). Table 4. The living standard of lone parent families in Europe in 1996 B DK D EL E F IRL I L NL A P FIN UK UE- Average living standard (PPS) Relative standard of living, rated to All families with children Families with children with one active parent only (working or unemployed) All households Source: Eurostat, ECHP, wave 3 (1996)- DREES calculations In countries with a large number of included lone parent families, except in Portugal, the standard of living of included lone parent families is on average 7% higher than the one of isolated lone parent families. Indeed, they benefit conventionally from the resources of people sharing the accommodation. Before taking this standard of living transfer into account, included lone parent families have a standard of living about 22% lower than isolated lone parent families. Sharing accommodation increases their standard of living by 37%. The impact is the highest in Spain (+55%) where the proportion of included lone parent families is also the highest. It is smaller in Greece (+31%) and in Italy (+35%). In Portugal, the level of personal resources of included lone parent families is on average 30% below that of isolated lone parent families, and being included hardly draws them to a similar level. 1. Poverty: twice as high for lone parent families as for all households The poverty threshold has here been defined for each country as half of the median national standard of living. According to this definition, one European lone parent family out of four (24%) is poor [figure 2]. The poverty rate is thus twice as high as for all households whole (11%). But, once again, it varies widely from country to country. 14

15 Figure 2. Poverty of European lone parent families Lo ne par ent fa mil ies (b) (1) DK L A NL FIN F IRL UK D UE-14 E B I (b)=2x(a) P EL (b)=(a) Whole population (a) (1) The arrow shows the way of an increasing weight of lone parent families amongst the poor. Source: Eurostat, ECHP, wave 3 (1996)- DREES calculations In the United Kingdom, about a third of lone parent families live under the poverty threshold, a proportion significantly higher than the Community average, whereas the overall poverty rate for the whole population in Britain is very close to the European level (12% against 11%). The same is true in Germany, where the total poverty rate is close to the European average, but lone parent families are widely over-represented amongst the poor. In France and in the Netherlands, where the poverty rates are under the European average, lone parent families are also over-represented amongst the poorest households. On the other hand, the poverty rate of lone parent families is really low in Denmark (3%). It is even lower than the one for the whole Danish population. In Greece and Portugal, where poverty is quite widespread, lone parent families do however account for a smaller part of the poor than in several other European countries. Lone parent families with the lowest personal incomes are most likely to be included and benefit at least from other household resources. Lone parent families are poor as often as other families with only one parent working. The ratio between the poverty rates of these two types of families varies however from 0.5 in Denmark to 0.7 in Spain. 58% of resources of lone parent families come from work The main part of resources of isolated lone parent families comes from work. The weight of wages is nevertheless quite low, less than 60%, compared to 80% for all families with children. However, this average figure is drawn down by the United Kingdom, Ireland and the Netherlands, where incomes from work represent less than a half of incomes of lone parent families. In these countries, fewer than 2 out of 3 lone parents are in paid work. On the other hand, in Portugal, France and Spain, 80% of isolated lone parent families receive incomes from work and this accounts for 70% of their total income. 34% are social transfers... 80% of lone parent families benefit from social transfers (other than pensions) and more than 60% of them are receiving family allowances. These proportions are higher than those observed for all families with children (68% and 50% respectively). 15

16 Consequently, while social transfers account only for 10% of the resources for all families, they reach 34% for lone parent families. Except in Spain, social transfers are more usual and their amounts are higher for isolated lone parent families than for other families. The difference is particularly noticeable in the Netherlands, where benefits received by lone parent families are almost three times as high as those received by other families.... amongst them 10% are family allowances Benefits to lone parent families do not always belong to family policy transfers. They also include disability and sickness allowances or unemployment benefits. Thus, it is particularly instructive to compare the situation of lone parent families to that of other families and to look only at family allowances. In fact, the share of family allowances in the total incomes of lone parent families is double compared to the share in the incomes of other families (10% against 4-5%). In all countries, isolated lone parent families receive higher amounts of family allowances than other families (about 40% as an average). Apart from social transfers, about a quarter (27%) of isolated lone parent families receive transfers from other households. These private transfers remain marginal, accounting for less than 5% of their resources, that is over 8 times less than social transfers. Family Allowances in the European countries Greece, Spain and Italy: Greece, Spain and Italy give few family allowances. Less than 15% of all families benefit from them, their amount is less than 700 PPS a year, and they account for less than 4% of the family resources. Concerning the level of benefits and their share in the total income of families, Portugal resembles these three countries. However, in Portugal a larger population is concerned as 80% of all families are receiving such benefits. Finland, Denmark, Luxembourg, Belgium and Austria: Contrasting with the Southern countries of Europe, Finland, Denmark, Luxembourg, Belgium and Austria give benefits of higher amounts, from 1,400 to 2,000 PPS per year. They account for more than 8% of the total incomes of these households. More than 85% of families are beneficiaries. Germany, France, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom: The majority of the Community countries are situated between these two extremes. The amounts of benefits range from 600 to 1,400 PPS, and this represents 4-8% of resources of families. In this group of countries, France is giving the highest amounts (1,250 PPS) but to the smallest part of the population (70% of families). Ireland is situated on the border between this group and the Southern countries group. 2. Social transfers reducing the poverty rate of lone parent families In 1996, a little more than one lone parent family out of four within the EU countries was poor (27%). Without social transfers, this proportion had however exceeded one out of two (54%). Without private transfers, the poverty rate of lone parent families had been still one point higher [figure 3]. The influence of social transfers in reducing the poverty of lone parents is the highest in Denmark. In Denmark, 42% of lone parent families would be poor without transfers but fewer than 3% are poor after the transfers. 16

17 The effect is less noticeable but still significant in Finland, Austria, Ireland, Belgium, the Netherlands, France and the United Kingdom. In the UK, more than 75% of isolated lone parent families would be poor if there were no social transfers. However, a third of them remain poor even after the benefits. In Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain, where social transfers are not so high, the role of private transfers in reducing poverty is as important as the role of social transfers. Figure 3. Proportion of the lone parent families under the poverty threshold before and after social and private transfers 8 0,0 7 0,0 6 0,0 5 0,0 4 0,0 3 0,0 2 0,0 1 0,0 0,0 before social (other than pensions) and private transfers before social transfers (other than pensions) before private transfers after all transfers Source: Eurostat, ECHP, wave 3 (1996)- DREES calculations 3. Three groups of lone parent families The picture of lone parent families with a low standard of living living often under the poverty threshold and benefiting from social transfers that count for a large part of their resources does not fit the variety of national situations. Three different groups of lone parent families can be distinguished in relation to their age and labour market activity: - The first group (31% of European lone parent families) gathers mostly women who are inactive in the labour market and whose resources come in a large proportion from social transfers. All of them are aged over 30 and their poverty rate is very high (over 40%). This group is particularly representative in the Netherlands (47%), Ireland (45%), the United Kingdom (39%) and Belgium (33%). On the contrary, it is underrepresented in Austria (16%), Portugal (16%) and Denmark (17%). - The second group (11%), on the other hand, includes young lone parents: the family heads are aged under 30, most of them are women and a high majority of them has never been married. Even if less than half of them have a job, unemployed people are quite numerous amongst them and almost all of these families benefit from social transfers. The standard of living is a little higher than in the first group and the poverty rate is a little lower but, nevertheless, quite high. This group is widespread in the 17

18 United Kingdom (20%), Ireland (17%), Finland (16%) and Austria (14%). It gathers fewer than 3% of Italian and Greek lone parent families. - The last group (59%) has a higher standard of living. The poverty rate is quite low. It mostly gathers working lone parents. Most of them are aged over 30 and male lone parents are a little more present here than in the other groups. Included families are also more frequent. This group is particularly important in Portugal (77%), Italy (72%), France (71%), Greece (71%) and Denmark (70%). 4. Drawing a map of European lone parent families Schematically, the Europe of lone parent families could be described as five groups of countries: - Anglo-Saxon countries, Ireland and the United Kingdom, with a high proportion of lone parent families. Amongst them, there are many young, single, workless lone parents. Working lone parent families have often a part-time job. The proportion of included families lies close to the Community average, as does the proportion of men. Social transfers have a dominant weight in those families resources, which remain nevertheless very often under the poverty threshold. - Scandinavian countries, Denmark and Finland, also have a quite high proportion of lone parent families. Young people, single people, men and working people are overrepresented compared to the European average. Included families are rare. Social transfers are important and a large number of lone parent families receive incomes from work, even if the weight of wages remains moderate in the total family income. In these countries, lone parent families are not poorer than other families. - In The Netherlands, and maybe also Luxembourg, there are few lone parent families. They are somewhat older and less often single than in most EU countries. The proportion of working people amongst them is a little lower. The standard of living of lone parent families is relatively higher than in the previous countries, but lone parent families are over-represented amongst the poor, and social transfers are important for them. - The Southern countries, except Portugal, have a low proportion of lone parent families and amongst them there are a lot of included families. As in the previous group of countries, young and single people are quite few but here widowed and working people numerous. Men are more represented than in the European average. The total income of lone parent families is quite high. Social transfers are rare and weigh less in the family resources. - Other countries, including France, build a more heterogeneous group, with contrasted labour market activity status. Social transfers are quite important. This classification should not hide the large heterogeneity between lone parent families in each country. Lone parenthood is only one of the characteristics of individuals whose situations and behaviours depend mostly on other factors. The aim of this classification is also to underline the diversity of lone parent families, which are usually considered as a homogenous group. Moreover, lone parenthood may last a longer or a shorter time. According to Herpin and Olier (1998), as many as 10% of all French lone parent families in the 1990s were after a year no more lone parent families. 18

19 II. The national cases: lone parent families and child care policies To complete this European portrait, we will present the national situation of our five countries in more detail, with a special attention to child care policies as they affect directly the care arrangements of lone parent families. 1. Finland 1.1. Lone parents: main characteristics Mainly due to the World War II, the number of lone parent families was high already in the 1950s in Finland and continued that way in the 1960s (table 5). In the 1970s and 1980s, when the proportion of lone parent families was on its lowest in the post-war era but during the 1990s there has been an increase concerning the proportion of as well lone mother as lone father families. Nevertheless, only about every seventh Finnish lone parent family is a lone father family, these families are still rare. Table 5. Finnish families by type in , per cent of all families Year Married couple without children Married couple with children Cohabiting couple with children Cohabiting couple without children Mother with children Father with children Source: Statistics Finland 2000a, 37. Table 6. Families with children under 18 by type in Finland in , per cent of all families with children children under 18 Year Married couple with children Cohabiting couple with children Mother with children Source: Statistics Finland 2000a, 42. Father with children However, if we look more precisely at families with children under 18, we can see more significant changes. After a drop in the 1950s and slightly also in the 1960s, the 19

20 proportion of lone parent families from all families with children increased slowly in the 1970s and 1980s and rapidly in the 1990s in Finland (table 6). The same recent change can also be seen if we look at the situation from the perspective of children, seeing in which kind of families they live in (table 7). Especially during the 1990s, the number of children in lone parent families has increased considerably. Whereas one child in ten lived with a lone parent in 1985, almost every sixth child lived in a lone parent family in 1998 in Finland. Table 7. Children under 18 by type of their family in Finland in , per cent of all children under 18 Year Married couple with children Cohabiting couple with children Mother with children Father with children Source: Statistics Finland 2000b, 30. In a statistical study from the mid-1990s, it was found that Finnish lone parent families had fewer children than two-parent families, two thirds had only one child and a quarter had two children (Statistics Finland 1994, 119; cf. Haataja 1991, 61). Children in lone parent families were usually older than children in two-parent families. Compared to two-parent families, lone parent families also lived more often in a rented apartment. Welfare benefits had a more important role in the incomes of lone parent families than two-parent families but only when both parents of the latter families were working (ibid, 121). The study underlined that Finnish lone parents are not a homogenous group. For example, lone fathers were economically rather well-off compared with lone mothers, whose wages were only 75 per cent of the level of lone fathers (ibid, 122). In 1999, women s wages were generally 82% of the men s earnings in Finland. Table 8. The position of Finnish lone parents in the labour market by age of their youngest child in 1996, per cent of all lone parent families Position in the labour market Age of the youngest child Total Employed Unemployed Out of labour market Total Source: Statistics Finland 1998,

21 Lone parents participate very largely in paid labour. In 1989, 90 per cent of lone mothers were in the labour force, almost no-one doing part-time work (Haataja 1991, 61). However, the recession of the 1990s hit especially hard the labour market position of lone mothers. In 1996, 18 per cent of lone parents did not belong to the labour force and further 17 per cent were unemployed (Statistics Finland 1998, 85). The age of the youngest child was found to be in close connection with the labour market position of the lone parent (table 8). Still in 1999, when the general employment situation had got much better, unemployment was twice as high among lone mothers as among other mothers (Haataja & Nurmi 2000). The 1990s also brought a higher extent of temporary work contracts especially for under 35-year-old employees. Women have been over-represented in the group having temporary work. Another trend, affecting both men and women, has been the increase of non-standard working hours including evening, night, weekend and shift work (Statistics Finland 1998, 38-45). All of these trends of the 1990s have considerably affected the situation and every-day life of lone parents. One interesting piece of statistical information is that two thirds of children who do not live with their both parents, do however live within 20 km from the absent parent (Statistics Finland 2000b, 84). In Finland, social policies aimed at lone parent families have attempted to minimise any inequalities that may have existed between children from different family backgrounds and, thus, the state has tried to alleviate the economic problems of lone parents. The main aim of family policies has been to secure a decent living standard for all children in Finland (May 1999, 15-18). In the 1980s, Finnish family policies experienced progressive development and the situation of lone parents improved in relation to two-parent families. However, during the 1990s the trend was opposite and especially lone parent families have experienced economic hardship and, sometimes, poverty (Forssén 1998, 151). Despite the relatively high level of welfare benefits to lone mothers, they have however been the most work-oriented of all women in Finland (May 1999, 15-18). Consequently, lone motherhood has not been constructed as a major moral or social problem by makers or researchers of social policies Child care provision In Finland, all under-school-age children are from 1996 legally guaranteed a place in municipal day care if their parents choose to apply for it. School is started at the age of 7 in Finland. Local authorities have 4 months from the application date to fulfil their legal obligation to organise a day care place. However, if the need for day care is urgent, like when the work starts on short notice, day care must be provided within two weeks. Municipal day care services are operated under social welfare administration and they have two main forms: day care centres and municipal child-minding. Day care centres are focused on early education for 3 6-year-olds but many of them take as young as one-year-old children. Municipal child-minding is a service where local authorities employ a child-minder who works at her (99 % of municipal child-minders are women) home, caring for 4-5 under-school-age children, sometimes including her own children. A little more than a half of those under 3-year-old children who are in day care are placed with municipal child-minders but also many older children, up to 5 years, are cared by them. Privately organised day care services are still rather limited in Finland. From year 2000 on, 6-year-old children are offered half-day preschool education that can be organised either in a day care centre or in a school. School and preschool 21