Diminished Rights

Denmark is one of the most progressive countries in terms of family support policies. This book, however, reveals a backdrop of diminished rights, inequalities and family violence in the lives of vulnerable lone mothers. If this is the case in Denmark, what is the situation in other countries, including the USA, the UK and other EU member states?

Diminished rights is a unique qualitative study that documents the daily lives of vulnerable lone mothers and their children in Denmark. Loss of rights, gender and ethnic inequality, and family violence all emerge as key themes, with far-reaching international implications. The book:

· presents vivid case stories to illuminate the voices and experiences of the women involved in the study;

· identifies lone mothers as part of an emerging post-modern underclass in Denmark;

· highlights the disturbing prevalence of domestic violence that pervades many lone mothers' lives;

· raises questions around legal and child custody rights and the lack of redress in a patriarchal justice system.

Policy and practice recommendations are made with wide-ranging applications for an international audience of policy makers, practitioners and academics.

Valerie Polakow is Professor of Educational Psychology and Early Childhood Studies at Eastern Michigan University, USA. She was a Fulbright scholar in Denmark in 1995, and has written extensively about women and children in poverty, and welfare and child care policies. Therese Halskov is Associate Professor at the Danish National School of Social Work, Copenhagen. She has conducted research on vulnerable populations in the EU and authored several books on social work. Per Schultz Jørgensen is former Professor of Social Psychology at the Royal Danish School of Educational Studies, Copenhagen. He served as Chairman of the National Council for Children in Denmark from 1998-2001.