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Guaranteed or conditional child maintenance? Examining the 2016 reform in Sweden

Fernqvist, Stina and Sépulchre, Marie LU (2022) In Critical Social Policy 42(3). p.428-447
Abstract
Family policies promoting gender equality and parents’ shared responsibility for their children tend to assume good parental collaboration post separation. However, this assumption obscures the reality of conflict and intimate partner violence (IPV) in some separated families. Focusing on Sweden, this article examines the 2016 reform which implies that the state ceases acting as an intermediary to organise child maintenance unless ‘special reasons’, including the experience of IPV, are invoked. Thus, the Swedish guaranteed child maintenance scheme became conditional. Drawing on interviews with resident parents and case officers at the Swedish Social Insurance Agency (SSIA), this article suggests that the reform increases the vulnerability... (More)
Family policies promoting gender equality and parents’ shared responsibility for their children tend to assume good parental collaboration post separation. However, this assumption obscures the reality of conflict and intimate partner violence (IPV) in some separated families. Focusing on Sweden, this article examines the 2016 reform which implies that the state ceases acting as an intermediary to organise child maintenance unless ‘special reasons’, including the experience of IPV, are invoked. Thus, the Swedish guaranteed child maintenance scheme became conditional. Drawing on interviews with resident parents and case officers at the Swedish Social Insurance Agency (SSIA), this article suggests that the reform increases the vulnerability of resident parents in several ways. Moreover, the ‘special reasons’ exemption creates a new distinction between ‘violent’ and ‘normal’ families, which case workers struggle to administer, and which leads to a withdrawal of state support for many families. (Less)
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author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
child maintenance, family policies, intimate partner violence, Sweden
in
Critical Social Policy
volume
42
issue
3
pages
428 - 447
publisher
SAGE Publications
external identifiers
  • scopus:85112427501
ISSN
0261-0183
DOI
10.1177/02610183211036563
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
e51ea6db-1357-4e29-962b-7f13a3a184a4
date added to LUP
2021-08-18 10:05:24
date last changed
2022-06-30 00:22:15
@article{e51ea6db-1357-4e29-962b-7f13a3a184a4,
  abstract     = {{Family policies promoting gender equality and parents’ shared responsibility for their children tend to assume good parental collaboration post separation. However, this assumption obscures the reality of conflict and intimate partner violence (IPV) in some separated families. Focusing on Sweden, this article examines the 2016 reform which implies that the state ceases acting as an intermediary to organise child maintenance unless ‘special reasons’, including the experience of IPV, are invoked. Thus, the Swedish guaranteed child maintenance scheme became conditional. Drawing on interviews with resident parents and case officers at the Swedish Social Insurance Agency (SSIA), this article suggests that the reform increases the vulnerability of resident parents in several ways. Moreover, the ‘special reasons’ exemption creates a new distinction between ‘violent’ and ‘normal’ families, which case workers struggle to administer, and which leads to a withdrawal of state support for many families.}},
  author       = {{Fernqvist, Stina and Sépulchre, Marie}},
  issn         = {{0261-0183}},
  keywords     = {{child maintenance; family policies; intimate partner violence; Sweden}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{3}},
  pages        = {{428--447}},
  publisher    = {{SAGE Publications}},
  series       = {{Critical Social Policy}},
  title        = {{Guaranteed or conditional child maintenance? Examining the 2016 reform in Sweden}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/02610183211036563}},
  doi          = {{10.1177/02610183211036563}},
  volume       = {{42}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}