KINSHIP CARE POLICY: EXACERBATING WOMEN'S OPPRESSION THROUGH NEOLIBERAL FAMILIALIZATION

Abstract

<p>Under neoliberal capitalist globalization, women's poverty and the deepening of women’s oppression and exploitation have been notorious. Indeed, women are facing poverty all over the world, including in industrialized capitalist countries. Women living in poverty and particularly poor single mothers have been targets of the counter neoliberal reform of the capitalist welfare state. This counter reform is a gendered, classist, and complex alteration that has assaulted the social responsibilities and budgets of the welfare state. The impact of neoliberal policies against single mothers is evident in Ontario. However, policymakers continue taking away the assistance and social welfare programs that used to support single mothers. Neoliberal governments have created provincial policies to reinforce women’s unpaid caring responsibilities and to intensify the surveillance and control exerted over poor Ontarian single mothers. This qualitative case study has explores critically the role of neoliberal social policy in Ontario child welfare. Through a feminist approach and using official documentary data, this research analyzes Ontario Kinship Care Policy. The study looks at the historical and social context in which the policy was formulated, depicts the main goals of the policy, and analyzes the policy’s outcomes both, for the system and for women. Possible areas of future research on this policy are listed in the conclusions.</p>