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Social Aspects of the Life of Single Mothers
ČUŘÍNOVÁ, Martina
The thesis deals with the issue of single parenthood from the perspective of women mothers. The main aim of the thesis was to survey the attitude of lone mothers - mothers of minor children - to the single parenthood. To generally describe the impact, which a termination of a partnership may have on a lone woman a mother raising minor child/children. What living circumstances she has to face and what lifestyle they chose at this stage of their lives. And finally, what forms of help they use. The text is divided into two parts theoretical and practical one. First chapter of the theoretical part deals with the family and its mission, what functions the family should fulfil in relation to its individual members and what could be the results if these functions are disrupted. The chapter is completed with the view of parenthood, which significantly changes the proper functioning of a family. Chapter two describes the crisis in partnership or marriage resulting in single parenthood. Furthermore, various forms related to child care after separation of partners are mentioned as well as potential impacts of the separation on the family. The third chapter discusses the maintenance and potential support, which single mother may receive from the state, surroundings or family. Finally, the chapter assesses the potential of women single mothers on the labour market. For the practical part of the thesis, a questioning technique was chosen and used in semi-structured interviews. The examined group consisted of fifteen women single mothers, aged 25-55, living in the district of Písek, having been at least six months after a divorce/separation and taking care of minor children. Women, who involuntarily become single mothers due to the partner´s death, were not included in the examined group. In connection with the thesis objective, two survey questions were asked: "How do lone women mothers of minor children - deal with single parenthood?" and "What support provided by the family, surroundings or the state do the lone women mothers of minor children use?". The survey has revealed that the majority of communication partners faces difficult financial situation caused by the loss of a second income or generally deteriorated potential on the labour market due to the necessity to combine work and child care without the support of the second partner and in many cases due to the improper fulfilment of maintenance obligations by fathers. Almost half of the communication partners has experienced such a situation, when the obliged parent fails to fulfil his maintenance obligation properly. Among other issues connected with the single parenthood, many communication partners mentioned the feeling of loneliness, lack of the father´s interest in his children, compromises they have to make when choosing a job or activities for their leisure time. The survey has shown that majority of the communication partners spends most of their leisure time by taking care of children or the household. The thesis may be used as a study material for students with social and legal specialization, as an introduction to the issue. In addition, women who experienced divorce/separation may utilize it as one of prospective manuals for the solution to their difficult situation.
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Lone-parent families as a public policy problem: stakeholders' frame reflection and reframing
Hejzlarová, Eva ; Veselý, Arnošt (advisor) ; Krebs, Vojtěch (referee) ; Matoušek, Oldřich (referee) ; Žižková, Jana (referee)
The main theme of the work is finding an answer to the question why in the past years Czech Parliament has failed to enforce measures improving the quality of life of lone-parent families, and what could be done for these measures to be adopted. Theoretical support for answering both questions is provided by a) frame analysis (Schőn and Rein), which works with the idea of conflicting frames and bridging conflicts through reframing, and b) the theory of social construction of target groups (Schneider and Ingram). Based on an analysis of stenographic minutes from proceedings dealing with the issue of non-payment of child support (in particular with proposals for the state to pay child support first and then to receive it from the obligor) and the arrangements connected to child custody (in particular the proposal to strengthen alternating custody), conflicting frames are reconstructed (in the case of non-payment, there are three conflicting frames, in the case of child custody two). These conflicting frames, or rather the fact that they are insufficiently addressed, may be the cause of the incapacity of Czech political representation to address the above agenda. An "efficient penalizing of the debtor" is described as a possible reframing of the problem in the field of non-payment of child support....
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