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Abstract
This paper examines linkages between women’s experiences in accessing information, services and public policy relating to income support in Canada and the UK. Drawing on narrative interviews, the author finds mothers with disabilities are often embedded in complex relations of care, experiencing both embodied and social barriers. Additionally, by employing critical discourse analysis, it is clear that policy in both contexts is written not only inaccessibly and confusingly, but is directed toward an able‐bodied, independent, resource‐rich ideal citizen. Thus, policy in both contexts is disabling and pathologizing. There are differences in resources that are written into the policy and available through the UK network of Citizen’s Advice Bureaus that would indicate that the UK offers a breadth of services and avenues for advocacy that are unavailable in Canada. Further, the Canadian policy appears to be more adversarial and surveillance‐based than the UK policy.
Acknowledgements
This study was funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. This research would not have been possible without the contributions of mothers in Canada and the UK, and the capable assistance of Tiffany Boulton, Gillian Ayers, Lynette Schick, Christen Terakita, and Michelle Volkart.
Notes
1. All dollar amounts are in Canadian funds.
2. In late 2008, after a contentious public review of disability benefits, the Incapacity Benefit was replaced with the Employment and Support Allowance. Those who received Incapacity Benefit prior to the change will, for the time being, continue with Incapacity Benefits. This shift was very much a concern to the women I interviewed, and is an example of the constantly‐changing landscape that is typical of disability benefits.