Cultural contradictions: perceptions of sole mother poverty and welfare in an age of neoliberalism and intensive mothering

The ideology of intensive mothering was initially identified and codified by Sharon Hays (cited in Ennis 2014) who outlined its three core beliefs, the first being that children require constant nurturance and attention from their biological mothers who, being women, are solely responsible for their care. The second is that despite this “inherent” inclination towards nurturance, mothers must always seek the advice of experts in order to mother “properly”. Finally, intensive mothering stipulates that mothers must be utterly selfless in the care of their children, investing every possible emotional and economic resource in raising them.