Low-income mothers in an Israeli welfare-to-work program: Symbolic violence and its limitations

Abstract

Welfare-to-work (WTW) programs use role modeling rhetoric to re-educate mothers to prioritize paid employment over presence-based childcare. Research has shown that mothers may resist this rhetoric if, historically, policies in their countries shaped their sense of entitlement to be supported as mothers. But under what conditions does such resistance build a critical voice? What other voices emerge in the encounter with the WTW rhetoric? This article uses three ‘voices’ that emerge in the ideological environment of WTW to criticize the common usage of ‘voice’ in discussions of working with those who live in poverty. Based on semi-structured interviews of 62 single mothers participating in a WTW program in Israel, the study shows how participants’ voices convey disentitlement to childcare services. By considering how low-income single mothers experience themselves as respectable individuals when suitable childcare is scarce, the article discusses the conditions under which an emerging ‘voice’ can be considered critical.