Thesis (M.S.W.)--Smith College School for Social Work, Northampton, Mass., 2007 / Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment for the degree of Master of Social Work. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 95-96).

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Michigan, 1987. / "A research report submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree ..."

Thesis (M.S.)--Brigham Young University. Dept. of Marriage, Family and Human Development, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 44-50).

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Michigan, 1987. / "A research report submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree ..."

Thesis (M. Soc. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1988.

Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1988. / Also available in print.

Thesis (B.A. (Hons.)) - University of Queensland, 2005. / Includes bibliography.

Thesis (M.A.)--Georgia State University, 2006. / Title from title screen. Michael Bruner, committee chair; Merrill Morris, Marian Meyers, committee members. Electronic text (138 p.) : digital, PDF file. Description based on contents viewed July 19, 2007. Includes bibliographical references (p. 112-128).

Magister Artium (Social Work) - MA(SW) / Primary Caregiver’s ability to provide a healthy, nurturing and stimulating environment is critical, but Caregivers in South Africa, especially those living in rural communities, are facing many challenges, including a combination of poverty, lack of education and skills, as well as social isolation, which directly and indirectly affect their ability to care for their children in a way to ensure their optimal developmental outcomes. Residents in far rural communities, such as in the Eastern Cape, have had less opportunities to go to school, due to various reasons and Caregivers therefore face multiple burdens. For the purposes of this study, it is important to clarify with reference the term “Caregiver”. The South African Children’s Act (Act 38 of 2005) differentiates between biological parents, guardians and caregivers. According to the Act (Children’s 2005), parents may be a biological father or biological father, a guardian being an honorary parent to the child and a caregiver is any family member rather than the biological parent or guardian who is concerned with care, welfare and development of the child. Although there is such differentiation, caregiving remains central to the holistic care required of any adult responsible for the nurturing of children. This will include biological father, mother, grandparents, extended family members, brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles as well as any person who is concerned with the care, welfare and development of the child and has been, after application to court of law, granted permission to exercise parental responsibilities over the child. The population for this study encompassed caregivers who are least educated and or never attended school in the Ku-Jonga rural settlement in Coffee bay and research participants were purposively selected from the populations. Data was collected by means of focus groups with the aid of an interview guide. The interviews were conducted in Xhosa and later translated into English. A Thematic system was used according to the Tesch’s eight steps and ethical considerations such as voluntary participation, informed consent and confidentiality were adhered to. The community has most citizens who identified with the target population. This is based on historical factors. The participants freely expressed themselves and contributed to the findings and thereby assisting the researcher reach the conclusions about experiences illiterate caregivers experience to support their children’s education.

1 Summary The focus of the thesis are the issues of equal status and equal opportunities for individuals caring for children, i.e., mothers and fathers, as this is an important topic of the current society and working relationships. The reason for that is the gradual transition from the classical family model of the father-breadwinner and the mother-caregiver to a modern dual-breadwinner model, with a significantly more equal position of women in society, in which both parents want to be involved both in the care and upbringing of their children as well as in the working environment. This work compares legal regulations of the Czech Republic and the Nordic countries, namely Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Iceland, whose family policies are described in the introductory chapters. Nordic countries have a rather specific approach in the area of family policy leading to a gender-neutral state where gender plays almost no role. They are focused on creating a fairly equal society with a pro-father approach in the form of a strong involvement of men in childcare and education. The other side of such equality is the emergence of discrimination, described in detail in the third chapter. The support of families and their involvement in working life has given rise to a new discriminatory reason in labour law...