Diminished rights

Valerie Polakow is Professor of Educational Psychology and Early Childhood Studies at Eastern Michigan University, USA. She was a Fulbright scholar in Denmark in 1995, and has written extensively about women and children in poverty, and welfare and child care policies. Therese Halskov is Associate Professor at the Danish National School of Social Work, Copenhagen. She has conducted research on vulnerable populations in the EU and authored several books on social work. Per Schultz Jørgensen is former Professor of Social Psychology at the Royal Danish School of Educational Studies, Copenhagen. He served as Chairman of the National Council for Children in Denmark from 1998-2001.

• Contents: Introduction: lone motherhood in international context; Part One: Whither equality? The worlds of Danish lone mothers: Critical obstacles confronting lone mothers; Struggling against the odds; Fighting for an education; Part Two: The outsiders - the worlds of ethnic minority lone mothers: Life on the margins; Part Three: Violence and the culture of silence: Life under siege; Conclusion: policy and practice recommendations.

"Drawing comparisons with welfare reform rhetoric and realities in the UK and USA, this powerful book makes a critical contribution to cross-national social policy and child and family literature." Beth Swadener, Early Childhood Education, Kent State University, USA