This dissertation examines the dominant discourse of welfare dependency and its implications for lone mothers in Ontario, Canada. This hegemonic discourse has been instrumental in positioning lone mothers as deviant, pathologically flawed and ineffective citizens. Using a repeated survival analysis, I examine the spells of participants identifying the significant variables influencing social assistance exit rates. Social constructionism and critical feminism are the theoretical lenses underpinning the analysis. The quantitative study examines the current composition of the Ontario Works caseload, interrogates the legitimacy of the welfare dependency supposition, debunks numerous social constructions surrounding welfare receipt and highlights the barriers impeding participants. The study culminates with a new understanding to counter the welfare dependency paradigm, recognizing the overlooked provisioning work of women in the neoliberal post welfare state.

Extended households are far from a rare phenomenon in Latin America and their prevalence does not seem to be in decline. In Chile, they accounted for about a quarter of all households over the 1990–2011 period. This persistence contrasts with the dramatic transformations that have taken place in other dimensions of family life, such as the fall in fertility and marriage rates, and the increase in cohabitation and out-of-wedlock births. Recent studies on extended living arrangements in the region have mainly understood household extension as a strategy to face economic deprivation, giving little attention to other factors affecting it, such as gender inequalities and changing needs for support over the life course. In this dissertation, I contribute to the understanding of extended households Chile through the analysis of adult women living in family units over the 1990–2011 period. Unlike most other studies, I recognise the unequal positions that individuals and families occupy within the extended household, by distinguishing between women that head an extended household and those that join it as subfamilies. Using quantitative methods, I analyse a nationally representative household survey: the CASEN survey. This is the most complete data source on demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of the Chilean population. This dissertation offers a new assessment of the relationship between extended living arrangements and economic deprivation. Its findings only partially support the hypothesis of household extension as a family strategy to face economic hardship. Other key factors emerge when explaining extended living arrangements, including mothers’ full-time employment, the vulnerability of informal family structures, and other needs of support connected to the life course. There has been an increasing trend across 1990–2011 for young women who have started their family life to live in extended households. Multivariate analyses reveals that this increase was mainly influenced by the rising prevalence of cohabitation and single lone motherhood among younger generations, and to a lesser extent by the increase in young women’s full-time employment. These findings raise important theoretical issues for the Chilean context and show that patterns of social modernisation and family change in Chile have gone hand-in-hand with an increasing importance of the support provided by the extended family. This dissertation fills an important gap in the research on intra-household gender inequalities by analysing women’s economic dependence on extended household members. It shows that women in subfamilies are more likely to be economically dependent than those in head-families. Full-time employment, as well as marriage and cohabitation, emerge as highly protective factors against economic dependence. Special attention is paid to lone mothers, who are often excluded from research on women’s economic dependence. Lone mothers in subfamilies benefit economically from being in an extended household. Yet overall they have decreased their likelihood of being economically dependent over the 1990–2011 period. I argue that this reflects the increasing social protection towards lone mothers and recent legal reforms aimed at the equalisation of rights among couples and children irrespective of the marriage bond.

Integrating intersectionality theory with a quantitative design, this analysis investigates the intersectional dynamics of self-reported health inequalities among lone parents in England and Wales. This study examines the association between lone parenthood, gender, and migrant status simultaneously on health outcomes. It applies logistic regression using data from the 2011 Census Microdata Individual Safeguarded dataset. The findings demonstrate the presence of multiple identity factors that contribute to health inequality, which consequently highlights the impact of cumulative socioeconomic privilege and disadvantage, impacting the health of lone parents. Regardless of gender or migration status, being a lone parent has a negative effect on health. The healthy migrant effect is evident across intersected categories of migrants and socioeconomic groups, particularly among men, partnered parents, and immigrants from Western societies. These results emphasize the significance of considering additional dimensions of social positioning and adopting an intersectional perspective in monitoring health inequalities in the country.

Cette recherche porte sur l’impact de la politique d’activation des prestataires d’aide sociale sur la santé et le bien-être des mères seules. Au Québec, un prestataire d’aide sociale dont le plus jeune enfant est âgé de moins de cinq ans est considéré comme ayant des contraintes temporaires à l’emploi. À la première rentrée scolaire de cet enfant, ce même prestataire est considéré apte à l’emploi, car Emploi-Québec juge qu’il s’agit du moment le plus opportun pour un retour au travail. Dans le cadre de cette recherche, nous avons analysé ce que ce moment de transition représentait pour les mères seules en termes de nouvelles relations au marché du travail et de tensions éventuelles associées à ces relations. Nous avons rencontré 13 mères seules prestataires de l’aide sociale en entrevues. Les données obtenues nous ont aidée à remplir les objectifs de cette recherche, qui étaient de 1) reconstruire les trajectoires d’insertion sur le marché du travail des mères seules rencontrées en mettant l’accent sur le moment de la transition et de 2) saisir les processus par lesquels les trajectoires d’insertion ont un impact sur la santé et le bien-être de cette population. Nous avons d’abord trouvé que la « relation à l’aide sociale » avait des effets négatifs sur la santé et le bien-être de nos répondantes, et ce, en raison essentiellement des normes de l’aide sociale à l’origine des bas niveaux de prestations. En ce qui concerne les effets du processus d’activation en lui-même sur la santé et le bien-être des mères seules, nous avons observé que la participation à des mesures d’activation dans des organismes communautaires en employabilité avait des effets positifs surtout sur le bien-être des mères seules. Toutefois, le processus d’activation est également apparu comme ayant un impact négatif sur la santé et le bien-être des mères seules rencontrées en raison des tensions qui existent entre les exigences d’Emploi-Québec liées à la participation aux mesures actives et au manque de ressources disponibles pour les mères seules participant à ces mesures. / This research is about the impact of the active policy designed for social assistance recipients on lone mother’s health and well being. In Quebec, a social assistance recipient who has a child aged less than 5 receives a temporarily limited capacity allowance. When the child begins school, the lone mother is no longer considered to have limitations to work. Indeed, Emploi-Québec considers this time as the most suitable time to return to work. As part of this research, I analyzed what this moment of transition represented for lone mothers in terms of new employment relationships and possible employment strain. I have met 13 lone mothers who received social assistance within the past year. The data obtained via the interviews helped me meeting my research objectives, which were: 1) reconstruct the insertion trajectories of the lone mothers in the labour market, with emphasis on the moment of transition, and 2) understand the process by which these insertion trajectories have an impact on the health and well being of this population. I first found that the “social assistance relationship” had negative impact on the respondents’ health and well being. The causes for this are fundamentally the social assistance program’s standards that underlie the low level of allowances. Regarding the impact of the activation process itself on the health and well being of the lone mothers I met, I noted that the participation to active measures in community-based organizations specialized in employability programs had positive impact on them, especially on their well being. However, the activation process has also been recognized as having a negative impact on their health and well being because of the strain linked to Emploi-Québec’s demands related to the participation in active measures and to the lack of resources available to lone mothers participating to these measures.

Cette recherche porte sur l’impact de la politique d’activation des prestataires d’aide sociale sur la santé et le bien-être des mères seules. Au Québec, un prestataire d’aide sociale dont le plus jeune enfant est âgé de moins de cinq ans est considéré comme ayant des contraintes temporaires à l’emploi. À la première rentrée scolaire de cet enfant, ce même prestataire est considéré apte à l’emploi, car Emploi-Québec juge qu’il s’agit du moment le plus opportun pour un retour au travail. Dans le cadre de cette recherche, nous avons analysé ce que ce moment de transition représentait pour les mères seules en termes de nouvelles relations au marché du travail et de tensions éventuelles associées à ces relations. Nous avons rencontré 13 mères seules prestataires de l’aide sociale en entrevues. Les données obtenues nous ont aidée à remplir les objectifs de cette recherche, qui étaient de 1) reconstruire les trajectoires d’insertion sur le marché du travail des mères seules rencontrées en mettant l’accent sur le moment de la transition et de 2) saisir les processus par lesquels les trajectoires d’insertion ont un impact sur la santé et le bien-être de cette population. Nous avons d’abord trouvé que la « relation à l’aide sociale » avait des effets négatifs sur la santé et le bien-être de nos répondantes, et ce, en raison essentiellement des normes de l’aide sociale à l’origine des bas niveaux de prestations. En ce qui concerne les effets du processus d’activation en lui-même sur la santé et le bien-être des mères seules, nous avons observé que la participation à des mesures d’activation dans des organismes communautaires en employabilité avait des effets positifs surtout sur le bien-être des mères seules. Toutefois, le processus d’activation est également apparu comme ayant un impact négatif sur la santé et le bien-être des mères seules rencontrées en raison des tensions qui existent entre les exigences d’Emploi-Québec liées à la participation aux mesures actives et au manque de ressources disponibles pour les mères seules participant à ces mesures. / This research is about the impact of the active policy designed for social assistance recipients on lone mother’s health and well being. In Quebec, a social assistance recipient who has a child aged less than 5 receives a temporarily limited capacity allowance. When the child begins school, the lone mother is no longer considered to have limitations to work. Indeed, Emploi-Québec considers this time as the most suitable time to return to work. As part of this research, I analyzed what this moment of transition represented for lone mothers in terms of new employment relationships and possible employment strain. I have met 13 lone mothers who received social assistance within the past year. The data obtained via the interviews helped me meeting my research objectives, which were: 1) reconstruct the insertion trajectories of the lone mothers in the labour market, with emphasis on the moment of transition, and 2) understand the process by which these insertion trajectories have an impact on the health and well being of this population. I first found that the “social assistance relationship” had negative impact on the respondents’ health and well being. The causes for this are fundamentally the social assistance program’s standards that underlie the low level of allowances. Regarding the impact of the activation process itself on the health and well being of the lone mothers I met, I noted that the participation to active measures in community-based organizations specialized in employability programs had positive impact on them, especially on their well being. However, the activation process has also been recognized as having a negative impact on their health and well being because of the strain linked to Emploi-Québec’s demands related to the participation in active measures and to the lack of resources available to lone mothers participating to these measures.

In the first chapter of this thesis, we investigate the impact of human capital and wage structure on the gender pay in a panel of European countries using a newly available and appropriate database for cross-country comparisons and a comparable methodology for each country. <p><p>Our first question is :What role do certain individual characteristics and choices of working men and women play in shaping the cross-country differences in the gender pay gap? What is the exact size of the gender pay gap using the “more appropriate” database available for our purpose? Giving that there are mainly only two harmonized data-sets for comparing gender pay gap throughout Europe: the European Community Household Panel (ECHP) and the European Structure of Earning Survey (ESES). Each database having its shortages: the main weakness of the ECHP is the lack of perfect reliability of the data in general and of wages in particular. However the main advantage of this database is the panel-data dimension and the information on both households and individuals. The data of the ESES is, on the contrary, of a very high standard but it only covers the private sector and has a cross-sectional dimension. Furthermore only few countries are currently available :Denmark, Belgium, Spain, Ireland and Italy. <p>We use the European Structure of Earning Survey (ESES) to analyse international differences in gender pay gaps in the private sector based on a sample of five European economies: Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, Italy and Spain. Using different methods, we examine how wage structures, differences in the distribution of measured characteristics and occupational segregation contribute to and explain the pattern of international differences. Furthermore, we take account of the fact that indirect discrimination may influence female occupational distributions. We find these latter factors to have a significant impact on gender wage differentials. However, the magnitude of their effect varies across countries.<p><p>In the second chapter, we analyse the persistence of the gender pay differentials over time in Europe and better test the productivity hypothesis by taking into account unobserved heterogeneity. <p><p>Our second question is :What is the evolution of the pay differential between men and women over a period of time in Europe? And what is the impact of unobserved heterogeneity? <p>The researcher here provides evidence on the effects of unobserved individual heterogeneity on estimated gender pay differentials. Using the European Community Household Panel (ECHP), we present a cross-country comparison of the evolution of unadjusted and adjusted gender pay gaps using both cross-section and panel-data estimation techniques. The analysed countries differ greatly with respect to labour market legislation, bargaining practices structure of earnings and female employment rates. On adjusting for unobserved heterogeneity, we find a narrowed male-female pay differential, as well as significantly different rates of return on individual characteristics. In particularly, the adjusted wage differential decreases by 7 per cent in Belgium, 14 per cent in Ireland, between 20-30 per cent Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain and of 41 per cent and 54 per cent in the UK and in Denmark respectively. <p><p>In the third chapter, we investigate causes of the gender pay gap beyond the gender differences in observed and unobserved productive characteristics or simply the sex. Explanations of the gender pay gap may be the penalty women face for having children. Obviously, the motherhood wage penalty is relevant to larger issues of gender inequality given that most women are mothers and that childrearing remains a women’s affair. Thus, any penalty associated with motherhood but not with fatherhood affects many women and as such contributes to gender inequalities as the gender pay gap. Furthermore, the motherhood wage effect may be different along the wage distribution as women with different earnings may not be equal in recognising opportunities to reconcile their mother’s and earner’s role. This brings us to our third question. <p><p>Our third question is :What is the wage effect for mothers of young children in the household? And does it vary along the wage distribution of women?<p>This chapter provides more insight into the effect of the presence of young children on women’s wages. We use individual data from the ECHP (1996-2001) and both a generalised linear model (GLM) and quantile regression (QR) techniques to estimate the wage penalty/bonus associated with the presence of children under the age of sixteen for mothers in ten EU Member States. We also correct for potential selection bias using the Heckman (1979) correction term in the GLM (at the mean) and a selectivity correction term in the quantile regressions. To distinguish between mothers according to their age at the time of their first birth, wage estimations are carried out, separately, for mothers who had their first child before the age of 25 (‘young mothers’) and mothers who had their first child after the age of 25 (‘old mothers’). Our results suggest that on average young mothers earn less than non-mothers while old mothers obtain a gross wage bonus in all countries. These wage differentials are mainly due to differences in human capital, occupational segregation and, to a lesser extent, sectoral segregation between mothers and non-mothers. This overall impact of labour market segregation, suggests a “crowding” explanation of the family pay gap – pay differential between mothers and non-mothers. Nevertheless, the fact that we still find significant family pay gaps in some countries after we control for all variables of our model suggests that we cannot reject the “taste-based” explanation of the family gap in these countries. Our analysis of the impact of family policies on the family pay gap across countries has shown that parental leave and childcare policies tend to decrease the pay differential between non-mothers and mothers. Cash and tax benefits, on the contrary, tend to widen this pay differential. Sample selection also affects the level of the mother pay gap at the mean and throughout the wage distribution in most countries. Furthermore, we find that in most countries inter-quantile differences in pay between mothers and non-mothers are mainly due to differences in human-capital. Differences in their occupational and sectoral segregation further shape these wage differentials along the wage distribution in the UK, Germany and Portugal in our sample of young mothers and in Spain in the sample of old mothers.<p><p>In the fourth chapter, we analyse the combined effect of motherhood and the family status on women’s wage.<p> <p>Our fourth question is :Is there a lone motherhood pay gap in Europe? And does it vary along the wage distribution of mothers?<p>Substantial research has been devoted to the analysis of poverty and income gaps between households of different types. The effects of family status on wages have been studied to a lesser extent. In this chapter, we present a selectivity corrected quantile regression model for the lone motherhood pay gap – the differential in hourly wage between lone mothers and those with partners. We used harmonized data from the European Community Household Panel and present results for a panel of European countries. We found evidence of lone motherhood penalties and bonuses. In our analysis, most countries presented higher wage disparities at the top of the wage distribution rather than at the bottom or at the mean. Our results suggest that cross-country differences in the lone motherhood pay gap are mainly due to differences in observed and unobserved characteristics between partnered mothers and lone mothers, differences in sample selection and presence of young children in the household. We also investigated other explanations for these differences such as the availability and level of childcare arrangements, the provision of gender-balanced leave and the level of child benefits and tax incentives. As expected, we have found significant positive relationship between the pay gap between lone and partnered mothers and the childcare, take-up and cash and tax benefits policies. Therefore improving these family policies would reduce the raw pay gap observed. <p> / Doctorat en Sciences économiques et de gestion / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished