This is the first book to describe the real lives of unmarried
mothers, and attitudes towards them, in England from the First
World War to the present day. The focus is on England because the
legal positions, and other circumstances, of unmarried mothers were
often very different elsewhere in Britain. The authors use
biographies and memoirs, as well as archives and official sources,
to challenge stereotypes of the mothers as desolate women, rejected
by society and by their families, until social attitudes were
transformed in the 'permissive' 1960s. They demonstrate the
diversity of their lives, their social backgrounds, and how often
they were supported by their families, neighbours, and the fathers
of their children before the 1960s, and the continuing hostility by
some sections of society since then. They challenge stereotypes,
too, about the impact of war on sexual behaviour, and about the
stability of family life before the 1960s. Much of the evidence
comes from the records of the National Council for the Unmarried
Mother and Her Child, set up by prominent people in 1918 to help a
social group they believed were neglected, and which is still very
active today, as Gingerbread, supporting lone parents in need of
help. Their work tells us not only about the lives of those mothers
and children who had no other support, but also another important
story about the vibrancy of voluntary action throughout the past
century and its continuing vital role, working alongside and in
co-operation with the Welfare State to help mothers into work among
other things. Their history is an inspiring example of how,
throughout the past century, voluntary organizations in the 'Big
Society' worked with, not against, the 'Big State'.
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