97300_Cook_McKenzie_Natalier.pdf (99.96 kB)
Women's child support labour: provisioning and the gendered work of negotiating child support transfers
conference contribution
posted on 2023-05-23, 09:35 authored by Cook, K, McKenzie, H, Natalier, KThe Australian Child Support Scheme is marked by high levels of debt and unreliable, partial and non-payment, which exacerbate mothers’ financial insecurity. These issues are primarily explored through a focus on fathers’ willingness and ability to pay child support, with little acknowledgement of mothers’ efforts and agency in managing its transfer. In this paper we synthesize data from three in-depth interview studies with women who were due to receive child support to describe mothers’ negotiation of the receipt and use of child support. We argue that women’s efforts are a form of labour. There are four dimensions of child support labour: emotion work, information work, interaction work and budget work. We conclude that this labour produces outcomes that can benefit them and their children but through inter-personal and structural disparities in socio-economic power, men also benefit from this work.
History
Publication title
TASA 2014 Conference ProceedingsEditors
Brad WestPagination
1-9ISBN
9780646927350Department/School
School of Social SciencesPublisher
Australian Sociological Association (TASA)Place of publication
AustraliaEvent title
Challenging Identities, Institutions and Communities:Event Venue
AdeliadeDate of Event (Start Date)
2014-11-24Date of Event (End Date)
2014-11-27Rights statement
Copyright 2008 the authorRepository Status
- Open