Families and poverty : everyday life on a low income / Mary Daly, Grace Kelly.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction -- Introducing the respondents -- Family life through an economic lens -- The construction, possibilities and limits of family in conditions of poverty and low income -- Parents and their children -- Wider family relationships and support -- Social networks and local engagement -- Representing self and family -- The policy context and the implications of the findings -- Conclusion -- App. A: Interview schedule -- App. B: Details of response rate and equivalisation of income.

The recent radical cutbacks of the welfare state in the United Kingdom have kept poverty and income management at the heart of intellectual, public, and policy discourse. This innovative book adds to that conversation, taking as its focus the role and significance of family in the context of poverty and low-income conditions. Based on a micro-level study carried out in 2011 and 2012 with fifty-one families in Northern Ireland, it draws from fresh empirical evidence to offer a new theorization of the relationship between family life and poverty. Different chapters explore such topics as parenting, the management of money, family support, and local engagement. Together, they detail the practices of constructing and managing family life and relationships in circumstances of poverty, making this book of interest to a wide readership including policy makers.