Silent voices, invisible violence : welfare to work and the exploitation of single mothers who have experienced domestic violence

The Welfare to Work Act 2005 specifically targeted single mothers on the premise of combating welfare dependency and other social problems, such as poverty, homelessness and even domestic violence. Drawing on a feminist standpoint approach and involving an analysis of qualitative interviews, this thesis examined how Welfare to Work impacted on the lives of 23 single mothers, including the perspectives of eight women’s emergency service workers and three welfare system workers. The study examined how Welfare to Work affected single mothers care responsibilities, labour skills and choices, to find that the policy exacerbated the risks the policy claims to solve and rendered violence against women and children invisible.