Available Open Access under CC-BY-NC licence. Single parents face a triple bind of inadequate resources, employment, and policies, which in combination further complicate their lives.


This book - multi-disciplinary and comparative in design - shows evidence from over 40 countries, along with detailed case studies of Sweden, Iceland, Scotland, and the UK. It covers aspects of well-being that include poverty, good quality jobs, the middle class, wealth, health, children’s development and performance in school, and reflects on social justice.


Leading international scholars challenge our current understanding of what works and draw policy lessons on how to improve the well-being of single parents and their children.

Contributions by: Natascha Van Mechelen, Anne Grege Toge, Sabine Hubgen, Malin Bergstrom, Viveca Ostberg, Marina Fernandez Salgado, Juho Härkönen, Janet Gornick, Gideon Calder, Diego Collado, Bea Cantillon, Guðný Björk Eydal, Ann Morissens, Yekaterina Chzhen, Antonia Keung, Jonathan Bradshaw, Joakim Palme, Rense Nieuwenhuis, Karen Modesta Olsen, Ingrid Esser, Nicklas Korsell, Ann-Zofie Duvander, Wim Van Lancker, Young Hwan-Byun, Ive Marx, Jeroen Horemans, Hannah Zagel, Sara Brolin Laftman, Emma Fransson, Jaap Dronkers, Marloes de Lange, Susan Harkness, Morag C. Treanor, Eva Sierminska