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The Deceit of Self Help: Preschool Playgroups and Working Class Mothers*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2009

Janet Finch
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Abstract

This article explores the voluntary, self help sector of preschool provision, using material from an in-depth study of playgroups in economically deprived areas of Lancashire. It argues that such playgroups tend either to collapse or to abandon the principle of self help because the economic, structural and cultural location of working class women makes these alternatives to statutory provision not a viable option in such localities. The restructuring of welfare to encourage self help is deceitful because it promotes forms of provision which working class women cannot provide for themselves; it fits well, however, with encouraging them to be ‘better’ mothers on a full-time basis.

Type
Article
Information
Journal of Social Policy , Volume 13 , Issue 1 , January 1984 , pp. 1 - 20
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1984

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