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Gendered debt: A scoping study review of research on debt acquisition and management in single and couple households
Mälardalen University, School of Health, Care and Social Welfare. (NORMKRITISKA)ORCID iD: 0000-0001-8467-8078
Mälardalen University, School of Health, Care and Social Welfare, Health and Welfare. (NORMKRITISKA)ORCID iD: 0000-0001-5967-0795
Mälardalen University, School of Health, Care and Social Welfare, Health and Welfare. (NORMKRITISKA)ORCID iD: 0000-0002-2752-4088
2020 (English)In: European Journal of Social Work, ISSN 1369-1457, E-ISSN 1468-2664, Vol. 23, no 5, p. 742-752Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

In the current economic environment, social workers are increasingly being required to support households that suffer from severe debt burdens. However, previous research has questioned if social workers are sufficiently prepared to meet this emerging form of financial exclusion, especially from a gender perspective. Thus, there is a risk that interventions for indebted households will overlook gender-specific, inequality-generating patterns in the acquisition and management of debts. With this in mind, the aim of this article is to provide an overview of the existing literature related to gender and household debt, in order to enable a development towards gender-aware social work interventions that equally support women and men in creating financially stable lives. The results show that gender dynamics affect how households acquire and manage their debt. These dynamics result in different forms and levels of debt for women and men, unequally divided spheres of responsibility for managing the acquired debt burden and differences in their willingness to seek debt advice. Unequal power relations between men and women and gender-stereotypic expectations are found to be key factors for explaining these results. The results are discussed in relation to practical implications for social policy and social work practice.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Routledge, 2020. Vol. 23, no 5, p. 742-752
Keywords [en]
Household debt, poverty, gender, social work
Keywords [sv]
skuld, skuldsättning, fattigdom, genus, socialt arbete
National Category
Social Work
Research subject
Social Work
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:mdh:diva-42483DOI: 10.1080/13691457.2019.1567467ISI: 000563073600003Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85060587080OAI: oai:DiVA.org:mdh-42483DiVA, id: diva2:1283535
Projects
Kön och skuld
Funder
Forte, Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare, 2015-00329Available from: 2019-01-29 Created: 2019-01-29 Last updated: 2023-04-25Bibliographically approved
In thesis
1. Att göras fri från skuld: Konstruktioner av klientskap och kön i det svenska skuldsaneringssystemet
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Att göras fri från skuld: Konstruktioner av klientskap och kön i det svenska skuldsaneringssystemet
2023 (Swedish)Doctoral thesis, comprehensive summary (Other academic)
Alternative title[en]
To be freed from debt : Constructions of clienthoods and gender in the Swedish debt reconstruction system
Abstract [en]

This thesis studies how over-indebted women and men are constructed as clients within the Swedish debt reconstruction system. The aim is to contribute with knowledge about how over-indebted women and men are understood, problematised, and handled in research literature and the debt reconstruction system. The focus is on analysing the client identities that are constructed when over-indebted women and men are described and describe themselves, highlight how these descriptions relate to dominant understandings about over-indebtedness and gender, and consider their implications for the support provided.

The thesis is based on four substudies and the empirical material consists of research literature, focus group interviews and individual interviews with budget- and debt counsellors, documentation, and letters attached to applications for debt reconstruction written by over-indebted women and men. Deriving from a constructionist approach, the study draws on theories about how clienthoods are constructed through language use in human service organisations and how prevailing societal norms and notions condition this process.

The results show that descriptions made by and about over-indebted women and men portray their underlying reasons for the debt problems, ability to manage money, and help-need in a variety of ways. As a consequence, the descriptions are found to contain elements that both challenge and reproduce dominant understandings about over-indebted individuals being financially irresponsible or ignorant. Prevailing conceptions about gender and women and men’s financial skills are found to influence how the individuals responsibility for the debt problems, and capability to solve their financial predicaments, are portrayed. The result show that descriptions made by and about over-indebted women and men thereby construct client identities that are attributed with varying responsibilities and capabilities, shaping how the budget- and debt counsellors approaches the individual and the content of the support provided. The conclusion is that the process of constructing clienthoods in part is conditioned by prevailing societal notions, but also has potential to challenge dominant notions emphasising citizens’ responsibility for creating welfare.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Eskilstuna: Mälardalen University, 2023
Series
Mälardalen University Press Dissertations, ISSN 1651-4238 ; 380
Keywords
social work, debt reconstruction, budget- and debt counselling, over-indebtedness, gender, clienthoods, client identities, discourse
National Category
Social Work
Research subject
Social Work
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:mdh:diva-62325 (URN)978-91-7485-597-5 (ISBN)
Public defence
2023-06-16, A2-004 och digitalt via zoom, Mälardalens universitet, Eskilstuna, 10:15 (Swedish)
Opponent
Supervisors
Funder
Forte, Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare, 2015-00329
Available from: 2023-04-27 Created: 2023-04-25 Last updated: 2023-05-26Bibliographically approved

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Callegari, JuliaLiedgren, PernillaKullberg, Christian

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