Session 9: Single Parents and Resistance in the Global North and South

The social problem of “single” (sometimes addressed as “lone”) parents has become more statistically visible at a global level and a further increase is forecasted for the next decades. Even if the sociodemographic profiles of single parents have changed during the last decades, single parenthood is still significantly gendered. Many studies indicate that the single parent status interferes with many trajectories of vital life domains (e.g., poverty, employment, and health) and the Covid-19 pandemic has affected heavily many dimensions of everyday life of these parents. Many difficulties are involved in creating and implementing adequate and evidence-based policies.

The organizer invites contributions, which highlight the everyday difficulties and forms of protest and resistance of these parents and the alternative and effective policies in preventing risks (e.g., the poverty risk) and facilitating the inclusion of single parents (e.g., in the labor market) in the global north and south. Furthermore, the session welcomes contributions, which aim to discuss the transnational dimensions of these parents’ difficulties (e.g., systemic inequalities), pathways for future research and other aspects about which the debate should remain open.

Session organizer: Morena Tartari, University of Southampton (UK); M.Tartari@soton.ac.uk