Families and Poverty ─ Everyday Life on a Low Income

The recent radical cutbacks of the welfare state in the UK have meant that poverty and income management continue to be of great importance for intellectual, public and policy discourse. Written by a leading author in the field, the central interest of this innovative book is the role and significance of family in a context of poverty and low-income. Based on a micro-level study carried out in 2011 and 2012 with 51 families in Northern Ireland, it offers new empirical evidence and a theorisation of the relationship between family life and poverty. Different chapters explore parenting, the management of money, family support and local engagement. The ordinary and extraordinary practices of constructing and managing family life and relationships in circumstances of poverty and low income are the driving set of interests and will make the book of interest to a wide readership including policymakers.

Mary Daly is professor of sociology and social policy in the Department of Social Policy and Intervention at the University of Oxford. She is the author, most recently, ofWelfare. Grace Kelly is a researcher at Queen’s University Belfast.