Sunflower, you were in Canada when you had your babies, yes? Because as jfpbookworm points out, the supports are awfully thin here in the U.S. The only reason men get stuck with child support is that society as a whole isn't willing to support children of single parents. At least in Canada, you're covered for health care. (Here, too, in theory, but there are holes in the CHIPS program.)
In Germany, single motherhood is less common than in the U.S. - people are less delusional about sex and birth control. But up until recently, anyway, going on welfare as a single mother was not terribly stigmatized. The German social safety net has been progressively undermined over the past few years, so I have to think that this option is getting harder - they have a lot more emphasis on working to earn one's benefits, which is obviously a problem if you have little ones. (Germany's public daycare system is also being slowly de-funded.)
I'm not sure I'd sign on to the Marxist part of your definition of radical feminist. That only describes a fraction of the overall group. But what I really appreciate is that you put a definition out there that lets us know what you mean.
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it's the social safety net ...
Date: 2008-04-18 02:09 pm (UTC)In Germany, single motherhood is less common than in the U.S. - people are less delusional about sex and birth control. But up until recently, anyway, going on welfare as a single mother was not terribly stigmatized. The German social safety net has been progressively undermined over the past few years, so I have to think that this option is getting harder - they have a lot more emphasis on working to earn one's benefits, which is obviously a problem if you have little ones. (Germany's public daycare system is also being slowly de-funded.)
I'm not sure I'd sign on to the Marxist part of your definition of radical feminist. That only describes a fraction of the overall group. But what I really appreciate is that you put a definition out there that lets us know what you mean.