SOME MOTHERS DO AVE EM - BACKLASH AND THE GENDER POLITICS OF THE UNDERCLASS DEBATE

This article is concerned with an aspect of the 'underclass debate' which has, thus far, been largely neglected by British social scientists-its gender politics. It examines the discourse that links lone mothers, juvenile crime, and the fiscal crisis of the Welfare State, tracing the development of the discourse, in its various forms, through 1993. The article argues that a high degree of consensus developed, uniting politicians and commentators in hostility to never married mothers. It is suggested that this discourse can be understood as part of a wider backlash against feminism, and that it locks into the restructuring of the Welfare State.