%0 Journal Article
%T Single Mothers¡¯ Post
%A Hayley McKenzie
%A Kay Cook
%A Kristin Natalier
%J Sociology
%@ 1469-8684
%D 2019
%R 10.1177/0038038518813847
%X This article uses single mothers¡¯ pursuit of child support (child maintenance) to examine how the state governs gender through post-separation financial responsibilities. We draw on interview data to detail how the Australian welfare state compels single mothers¡¯ child support provisioning through claims work and the associated strategies of managing information, emotions and government workers. Despite their sustained efforts, provisioning afforded single mothers¡¯ limited financial benefits. We argue that this outcome reflected a gendered policy and implementation regime that normalised masculine financial discretion and simultaneously compelled single mothers¡¯ provisioning and failed to accord it legitimacy. Provisioning did, however, benefit the welfare state, which appropriated single mothers¡¯ time and knowledge to claim and perform key functions. We conclude that the necessity and challenges of child support provisioning were not indicative of a failing child support programme but rather reflected its role in the reproduction of gendered power, responsibilities and rewards in post-separation parenting
%K child maintenance
%K child support
%K governance of gender
%K lone motherhood
%K post-separation parenting
%K provisioning
%K single mothers
%K unpaid work
%K welfare state
%U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0038038518813847