Karolinska Institutet, SE 171 76, Stockholm, Sweden.
Soc Sci Med. 2010 Mar;70(6):912-20. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2009.11.014. Epub 2010 Jan 8.
This study examines the welfare state arrangements and social policy, living conditions and health among lone and couple mothers in three contrasting policy environments: Italy, Sweden and Britain. These countries fall into distinctive family policy categories. Data were drawn from representative national household interview surveys. The findings highlight both similarities and differences. Lone mothers had significantly worse health than couple mothers in all three countries, were more likely to suffer material disadvantage and were much more likely to be smokers. They could be considered a disadvantaged group in particular need in all three countries, irrespective of the policy regime. It is the differences between countries, however, in the experiences of lone and couple mothers that indicate that the prevailing policy regime really does matter. There were telling differences in the prevalence of lone motherhood, their composition, rates of joblessness, poverty and health status of lone mothers in relation to couple mothers in each country. These may be traced back to the main policy regimes of each country, but also partly reflect culture and traditions. The study illustrates an emerging approach to investigating the health inequalities impact of complex social policy contexts. The experiences of lone mothers as a group may serve as a 'litmus' test of how each family policy system is operating and offer an early warning of adverse impacts when policies change.
本研究考察了福利国家安排和社会政策、生活条件以及意大利、瑞典和英国这三个政策环境截然不同的国家中的单身母亲和已婚母亲的健康状况。这些国家属于不同的家庭政策类别。数据来自具有代表性的全国家庭访谈调查。研究结果突出了相似之处和不同之处。在所有三个国家，单身母亲的健康状况都明显比已婚母亲差，更有可能遭受物质贫困，更有可能吸烟。无论政策制度如何，她们都可以被视为一个特别需要关注的弱势群体。然而，单身母亲和已婚母亲在各国的经历之间的差异表明，现行的政策制度确实很重要。在每个国家，单身母亲的普遍程度、构成、失业、贫困和健康状况与已婚母亲的比例都存在显著差异。这些差异可以追溯到每个国家的主要政策制度，但也部分反映了文化和传统。本研究说明了一种研究复杂社会政策环境中健康不平等影响的新方法。单身母亲群体的经历可以作为检验每个家庭政策系统运作情况的“试金石”，并在政策发生变化时对不利影响发出预警。
