Alternative Family Types
Lone Motherhood
A
sector of the female population that is significantly affected by traditional
family-oriented policies is lone mothers. Austrian family policy, where the
family exists as the core of society, is one of the most well-developed and
extensive in central Europe. This type of family policy influenced by
traditional gender roles makes the assumption that mothers will be generally
supported by the father of their children. However, this poses a great problem
for those women who face motherhood alone.
Lone
mothers are particularly affected by the prevalence of the male breadwinner,
female homemaker model because the woman must play both of these roles. In
Austria, lone mothers make up 13% of the national population with children and
as large as 17% in specific mountainous regions. This is significantly higher
than many other countries in the European Union.
See the following pages for information on lone motherhood and:
All
of these factors, in terms of income, housing, and benefit packages, taken
together illustrate how the Austrian policies oriented toward families have
neglected to respond to the issues of the large proportion of lone mothers in
the Austrian population. Additionally, the conservative values inherent in
Catholicism and the traditional family model that criticize lone motherhood are
expressed through the inadequate social wage provided for caretaking that is
truly only enough to supplement the income of a partner. Essentially, the
government’s low priority for this problem sends a message to the Austrian
people that lone motherhood is wrong by virtue of its incompatibility with
traditional family values.
References:
References:
Organisation
for Economic Cooperation and Development. 2003. Babies and bosses: reconciling
work and family life: v. 2, Austria ,
Ireland and Japan
