Not the Whole Story: Challenging the Single Mother Narrative

Not the Whole Story: Challenging the Single Mother Narrative

Not the Whole Story: Challenging the Single Mother Narrative

Not the Whole Story: Challenging the Single Mother Narrative

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Overview

Not the Whole Story is a compilation of sixteen stories narrated by single mothers in their own way and about their own lives. Each story is unique, but the same issues appear again and again. Abuse, parenting as single mothers, challenges in the labour market, mental health and addictions issues, a scarcity of quality childcare, immigration and status vulnerability, struggles with custody, and poverty—these factors, combined with a lack of support, contribute to their continued struggles.

The themes that recur across stories illustrate that the issues the women face are not just about individual struggle; they demonstrate that major issues in Canada’s social system have been neglected in public policy. In order for these issues to be addressed we need to challenge the flawed public policies and the negative discourse that continue to marginalize single mothers—in terms of the opportunities in their own lives and in terms of how they are understood by other Canadians.

The first-person narratives of the struggles and issues faced by low-income single mothers provide narrative richness and are augmented by introductory and concluding chapters that draw the narrative themes together and offer overarching discussion and analysis.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781554586240
Publisher: Wilfrid Laurier University Press
Publication date: 04/08/2014
Series: Life Writing , #51
Pages: 176
Product dimensions: 8.90(w) x 6.00(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Lea Caragata teaches in the Faculty of Social Work at Wilfrid Laurier University. Her areas of research and specialization include marginalization and oppression, and, most recently, labour market changes and welfare-state retrenchment and their impacts on lone-mother-led families. A long-time activist, she collaborates with peer researchers and looks at popular and scholarly dissemination activities with an eye on social change.


Judit Alcalde, a graduate of the Community Psychology M.A. program at Wilfrid Laurier University, has over twenty years of experience working in community-based settings. Her work has spanned numerous topics, but much of her time has centred on issues faced by women, including abuse and poverty. She works as an independent community research and evaluation consultant in Toronto.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements ix

Introduction Lea Caragata 1

Workfare and Precarious Work 2

The Making of This Book 4

Methodology 7

Issues Shaping Poverty, Single Motherhood, and Social Status 9

Format of the Volume 16

On the Process of Creating This Book and on the Stories That Needed Telling Robin 19

The Individual Stories

Sara's Story 25

Martha's Story 31

Mary's Story 39

Anne's Story 46

Madison's Story 54

Stacey's Story 66

Robin's Story 76

Emily's Story 85

Catrina's Story 91

Lucy's Story 102

Christina's Story 112

Susan's Story 121

Miriam's Story 130

Victoria's Story 139

Izabela's Story 152

Jenna's Story 165

Making Meaning Lea Caragata Judit Alcalde 169

Story Summaries 169

Pulling It Together 195

Conclusion Lea Caragata 211

References 215

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