A safety net or ties that bind? Women, welfare and self‐employment

Abstract

Purpose

This paper sets out to examine the challenges facing benefit‐dependent lone mothers who seek to engage with self‐employment.

Design/methodology/approach

A case study approach offers a detailed analysis of the experiences of three women considering the transition from benefit dependency to self‐employment.

Findings

The current welfare regime discourages lone mothers from entering formal self‐employment.

Research limitations/implications

The number of cases is limited by the nature of the study involved. Future work would seek to expand upon this.

Practical implications

Questions are raised regarding the efficacy of current welfare to work policies as, in this case, they would appear to impede enterprising behaviour and positively encourage informal working.

Originality/value

The paper engages in a novel fashion with the concepts of gender, welfare dependency and enterprise whilst developing a critique of current policy.

Citation

Marlow, S. (2006), "A safety net or ties that bind? Women, welfare and self‐employment", International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, Vol. 26 No. 9/10, pp. 397-410. https://doi.org/10.1108/01443330610690541