Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-tj2md Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-24T08:49:42.172Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Role of Social Support Networks in Helping Low Income Families through Uncertain Times

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 April 2020

Katherine Hill ,
Donald Hirsch  and
Abigail Davis
Katherine Hill
Affiliation:
Centre for Research in Social Policy, Loughborough University, E-mail: K.R.Hill@lboro.ac.uk
Donald Hirsch
Affiliation:
Centre for Research in Social Policy, Loughborough University, E-mail: D.B.Hirsch@lboro.ac.uk
Abigail Davis
Affiliation:
Centre for Research in Social Policy, Loughborough University, E-mail: A.A.I.Davis@lboro.ac.uk
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In times of labour market insecurity and retrenchment of state support, low income families rely on friends and relatives as a safety net. This article explores the enhanced role of this ‘third source of welfare’ in light of these developments. It draws on qualitative longitudinal research to demonstrate how families’ situations fluctuate over two years and the importance of social support networks in hard times and periods of crisis. The research illustrates how social support is not necessarily a stable structure that families facing insecurity can fall back on, but rather a variable resource, and fluid over time, as those who provide such support experience changing capabilities and needs. A policy challenge is to help reinforce and not undermine the conditions that enable valuable social support to be offered and sustained, while ensuring sufficient reliable state support to avoid families having no choice but to depend on this potentially fragile resource as a safety net.

Keywords

Low incomefamiliessocial supportinformal childcareinsecurity
Type
Articles
Information
Social Policy and Society , Volume 20 , Issue 1 , January 2021 , pp. 17 - 32
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aassve, A., Arpino, B. and Goisis, A. (2012) ‘Grand-parenting and mothers’ labour force participation: a comparative analysis using the Generations and Gender survey’, Demographic Research, Special Collection 27, 3, 53–84.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Alberti, G., Bessa, I., Hardy, K., Trappmann, V. and Umney, C. (2018) ‘In, against and beyond precarity: work in insecure times’, Work, Employment and Society, 32, 3, 447–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Asenova, D., McKendrick, J., McCann, C. and Reynolds, R. (2015) Redistribution of Social and Societal Risk: The Impact on Individuals, Their Networks and Communities in Scotland, York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation.Google Scholar
Atfield, G., Lindley, R. and Orton, M. (2016) Living with Debt after Advice, York: Friends Provident Foundation. Google Scholar
Ballaram, B. and Wallace-Stephens, F. (2018) Thriving, Striving or Just about Surviving: Seven Portraits of Economic Security and Modern Work in the UK, London: RSA.Google Scholar
Bangham, G. (2017) Is the National Living Wage Improving Living Standards?, LSE British Policy and Politics blog, 26 October, http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/is-the-national-living-wage-improving-living-standards/ [accessed 05.04.2019].Google Scholar
Beatty, C. and Fothergill, S. (2016) The Uneven Impact of Welfare Reform: The Financial Losses to Places and People, Sheffield: Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bourquin, P., Norris Keiller, A. and Waters, T. (2019) The Distributional Impact of Personal Tax and Benefit Reforms 2010 to 2019, IFS Briefing Note 270, https://www.ifs.org.uk/uploads/BN270-The-distributional-impact-of-personal-tax-and-benefit-reforms.pdf [accessed 24.11.2019].Google Scholar
Bush, L., Templer, M. and Allen, K. (2019) How can Universal Credit Help Parents Move Out of Poverty? York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation.Google Scholar
Canton, J. (2018) ‘Coping with hard times: the role that support networks play for lone mother families in times of economic crisis and government austerity’, Families, Relationships and Societies, 7, 1, 23–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Caraher, K. and Reuter, E. (2017) ‘Vulnerability of the “entrepreneurial self”: analysing the interplay between labour markets and social policy’, Social Policy and Society, 16, 3, 483–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Centre for Social Justice (2018) A Bright Start: Improving Childcare for Disadvantaged Families through Universal Credit, London, Centre for Social Justice.Google Scholar
Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) (2016) The Importance of Income Security, https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/Global/CitizensAdvice/welfare%20publications/The%20Importance%20of%20Income%20Security%20(Final).pdf [accessed 25.04.2019].Google Scholar
Corlett, A. (2018) Despite ‘the End of Austerity’, April Promises Another Deep Benefit Cut, London, Resolution Foundation.Google Scholar
Corlett, A., Clarke, S., D’Arcy, C. and Wood, J. (2018) The Living Standards Audit 2018, London: Resolution Foundation.Google Scholar
Cribb, J., Norris Keller, A. and Waters, T. (2018) Living Standards, Poverty and Inequality in the UK: 2018, London, IFS.Google Scholar
Croucher, K., Quilgars, D. and Dyke, A. (2018) Housing and Life Experiences: Making a Home on a Low Income, York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation.Google Scholar
Daly, M. and Kelly, G. (2015) Families and Poverty: Everyday Life on a Low Income, Bristol, Policy Press.Google Scholar
Davis, A., Hirsch, D. and Padley, M. (2017) ‘The Minimum Income Standard as a benchmark of a “participatory social minimum”’, Journal of Poverty and Social Justice, 26, 1, 19–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) (2018) HBAI: An Analysis of the UK Income Distribution 1994/5-2016/17, https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/households-below-average-income-199495-to-201617 [accessed 15.04.2019].Google Scholar
Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) (2019) Universal Credit Full Service Omnibus Survey: Findings from 2 Waves of Tracking Research with Recent Universal Credit Full Service Claimants, DWP Research Report 976.Google Scholar
Finch, D. (2016) Hanging On: The Stresses and Strains of Britainʼs ‘Just Managing’ Families, London: Resolution Foundation.Google Scholar
Gordon, D. (2012) ‘Socio-economic security’, in van der Maesen, L. J. G. and Walker, A. (eds.), Social Quality, London: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Guardian, The (2019) ‘Million Universal Credit households do not get full entitlement’, 24 November, https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/nov/23/million-families-cut-universal-credit-benefits-debts [accessed 25.11.2019].Google Scholar
Hall, A. and Perry, C. (2013) Family Matters: Understanding Families in an Age of Austerity, London: Ipsos Mori.Google Scholar
Hantrais, L. (2004) Family Policy Matters: Responding to Family Change in Europe, Bristol: Policy Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harding, C. and Cottell, J. (2018) Childcare Survey 2018, Family and Childcare Trust.Google Scholar
Hartfree, Y. and Collard, S. (2015) ‘Locating credit and debt within an anti-poverty strategy for the UK’, Journal of Poverty and Social Justice, 23, 3, 203–14.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hick, R. and Lanau, A. (2018) ‘Moving in and out of in-work poverty in the UK: an analysis of transitions, trajectories and trigger events’, Journal of Social Policy, 47, 4, 661–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hickman, P. (2018) ‘A flawed construct? Understanding and unpicking the concept of resilience in the context of economic hardship’, Social Policy and Society, 17, 3, 409–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hickman, P., Batty, E., Dayson, C., Flint, J., Foden, M., Muir, J., Ambrose, A. and Green, S. (2015) ‘Getting-By’, Coping and Resilience in Difficult Times: Final Report, Sheffield: CRESR, Sheffield Hallam University.Google Scholar
Hill, K., Davis, A., Hirsch, D. and Marshall, L. (2016) Falling Short: The Experiences of Families Living Below the Minimum Income Standard, York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation.Google Scholar
Hirsch, D. and Valadez, L. (2015) How Much Does the Official Measure of Child Poverty Under-Estimate Its Extent by Failing to Take Account of Childcare Costs?, Loughborough: Centre for Research in Social Policy.Google Scholar
HM Treasury (2018) Budget 2018: Philip Hammondʼs Speech, https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/budget-2018-philip-hammonds-speech [accessed 25.01.2019].Google Scholar
Hobson, F., Spoor, E. and Kearton, L. (2019) Managing Money on Universal Credit, London: Citizens Advice.Google Scholar
House of Lords (2018) Eighth Report of Session 2017-19, Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee, HL Paper 244, https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201719/ldselect/ldseclegb/244/244.pdf [accessed 06.03.2019].Google Scholar
Jokinen, E. (2016) ‘Precarious everyday agency’, European Journal of Cultural Studies, 19, 1, 85–99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) (2018) UK Poverty 2018: A Comprehensive Analysis of Poverty Trends and Figures, York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation.Google Scholar
Judge, L. (2018) The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: The Experience of Agency Workers and the Policy Response, London: Resolution Foundation.Google Scholar
Kanji, S. (2018) ‘Grandparent care: a key factor in mothers’ labour force participation in the UK’, Journal of Social Policy, 47, 3, 523–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kyprianou, L. (2015) Getting By, a Year in the Life of 30 Working Families in Liverpool, Birmingham: Getting by project.Google Scholar
Lister, R. (1994) ‘“She has other duties”: women, citizenship and social security’, in Baldwin, S. and Falkingham, J. (eds.), Social Security and Social Change: New Challenges to the Beveridge Model, New York: Harvest Wheatsheaf, 31–44.Google Scholar
Low Pay Commission (2018) A Response to Government on One-Sided Flexibility, Low Pay Commission Report, https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/765193/LPC_Response_to_the_Government_on_one-sided_flexibility.pdf [accessed 13.03.2019].Google Scholar
MacMahon, B. and McEvoy, O. (2018) Stories of Struggle: Experiences of Living Below the Minimum Essential Standard of Living, Dublin, VPSJ.Google Scholar
McLeod, J. and Thomson, R. (2009) Researching Social Change, London: Sage.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Middleton, S., Ashworth, K. and Walker, R. (1994) Family Fortunes: The Pressures of Parents and Children in the 1990s, London: Child Poverty Action Group.Google Scholar
Millar, J. and Ridge, T. (2017) Work and Relationships over Time in Lone-Mother Families, York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation.Google Scholar
Moffatt, S., Lawson, S., Patterson, R., Holding, E., Dennison, A., Sowden, S. and Brown, J. (2016) ‘A qualitative study of the impact of the UK “bedroom tax”’, Journal of Public Health, 38, 2,197–205.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
NAO (2017) Homelessness, London: National Audit Office,Google Scholar
National Housing Federation (NHF) (2019) Briefing: Poverty and Housing in the Private Rented Sector, London: National Housing Federation.Google Scholar
Neale, B., Henwood, K. and Holland, J. (2012) ‘Researching lives through time: an introduction to the Timescapes approach’, Qualitative Research, 12, 1, 4–15.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nygren, L., White, S. and Ellingsen, I. (2018) ‘Investigating welfare regime typologies: paradoxes, pitfalls and potentialities in comparative social work research’, Social Policy and Society, 17, 4, 665–77.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Office for National Statistics (ONS) (2018) Families and the Labour Market, England: 2018, Office for National Statistics, https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/articles/familiesandthelabourmarketengland/2018 [accessed 02.02.2019].Google Scholar
Orton, M. (2015) Somethingʼs Not Right: Insecurity and an Anxious Nation, London: Compass.Google Scholar
Patrick, R. (2017) For Whose Benefit? The Everyday Realities of Welfare Reform, Bristol: Policy Press.Google Scholar
Pemberton, S., Fahmy, E., Sutton, E. and Bell, K. (2017) ‘Endless pressure: life on a low income in austere times’, Social Policy and Administration, 51, 7, 1156–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Piketty, T. (2013) Capital in the 21st Century, Cambridge: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Portes, J. and Reed, H. (2018) The Cumulative Impact of Tax and Welfare Reforms, London, EHRC.Google Scholar
Prime Ministerʼs Office (2016) Statement from the New Prime Minister Theresa May, 13 July, https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/statement-from-the-new-prime-minister-theresa-may [accessed 20.06.2018].Google Scholar
Roantree, B. and Vira, K. (2018) The Rise and Rise of Womenʼs Employment in the UK: IFS briefing note BN234, London: IFS.Google Scholar
Rosa, G. and Stephens, M. (2019) State of Childrenʼs Rights in England 2018: Poverty and Homelessness, London: Childrenʼs Rights Alliance for England.Google Scholar
Shildrick, T., MacDonald, R., Webster, C. and Garthwaite, K. (2012) Poverty and Insecurity: Life in No-Pay, Low-Pay Britain, Bristol: Policy Press.Google Scholar
Shorthouse, R. (2013) Family Fortunes: The Bank of Mum and Dad in Low Income Families, London: Social Market Foundation.Google Scholar
Smith, N. and Middleton, S. (2007) A Review of Poverty Dynamics Research in the UK, York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation.Google Scholar
Social Mobility Commission (2016) State of the Nation 2016: Social Mobility in Great Britain, London, HMSO.Google Scholar
Stone, J., Padley, M. and Hirsch, D. (2019) Households below a Minimum Income Standard: 2008/09 to 2016/17, York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation.Google Scholar
Swaffield, J., Snell, C., Tunstall, B. and Bradshaw, J. (2018) ‘An evaluation of the living wage: identifying pathways out of in-work poverty’, Social Policy and Society, 17, 3, 379–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thompson, S. (2015) The Low-Pay, No-Pay Cycle, York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation.Google Scholar
Wright, S. (2016) ‘Conceptualising the active welfare subject: welfare reform in discourse, policy and lived experience’, Policy and Politics, 44, 2, 235–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar