Poverty and Social Exclusion During and After Poland’s Transition to Capitalism Four Generations of Women in a Post-Industrial City Tell Their Life Stories - ebook

The book is about poverty in Poland during the period of system transformation and in the decade that followed, as documented in the life courses of consecutive generations of women living in the disadvantaged neighbourhoods in the post-industrial city. 69 life histories were collected. The authors analyse the life histories of four generations of women where the oldest are former workers in state-owned factories in which they worked until retirement and who used to be the avant-garde of the women’s working class during the socialist period. Their daughters, granddaughters and great-granddaughters occurred redundant on the capitalist labour market and lived on social benefits. The book is unique in both Polish and world literature since it goes beyond traditionally considered “feminisation of poverty” in monetary terms. It searches for poverty drivers and maintainers embedded in changes in industrial relations, welfare regime and family structures and relations. It also tells about women’ efforts and capabilities to cope with the disadvantage.

The publication will be of interest to a broad audience composed of scholars concerned with poverty, social marginalisation and exclusion, officers in public and non-governmental institutions as well as to students of social work, sociology, pedagogy, psychology, social policy, gender studies and family science.

Introduction               9

Chapter 1. The sociology of the life course     21

Chapter 2. Poverty in the biographical experience of women from the oldest generation – ‘grandmothers’            29

1. Childhood  31

1.1. Poverty in childhood in the countryside     31

1.1.1. Children working as servants           34

1.2. Poverty in childhood in Łódź        36

1.2.1. Working mothers. Caring for younger siblings             40

1.3. World War II and the Nazi-German occupation        41

1.3.1. Forced displacement and labour in Germany              42

1.3.2. Working in German factories. Taking responsibility for the mother and younger siblings 44

2. Youth           45

2.1. Starting work in a factory – a new biographical experience  45

3. Adulhood   47

3.1. Getting married                47

3.2. Reconciling work with maternity and child care       49

3.2.1. Marriages founded on partner relations         49

3.2.2. Traditional marriages         50

3.2.3. Lack of trust in marital relations – alcoholism in the family of procreation            50

3.3. Financial conditions of the family of procreation     51

3.4. Events that damage stability – illness and husband’s death                53

4. Old age       54

4.1. Living on an old age pension in an extended family           54

4.2. Grandmothers as foster families               56

4.3. Health problems – lack of money for medical care             57

4.4. Summing up one’s life – subjective assessment of one’s life in the past and at present           58

Chapter 3. Poverty in the biographical experience of women from the middle generation – ‘mothers’       61

1. Childhood                63

1.1. Childhood in poverty – the father’s alcoholism 63

1.2. Education        65

2. Adulth       67

2.1. Marriage – capital at the start 67

2.1.1. The drinking husband’s violence and aggression     71

2.1.2. Taking responsibility for the finances and organization of family life  76

2.2. The breakdown of a marriage   77

2.2.1. Divorce and its consequences       78

2.3. Employment   80

2.3.1. Loss of employment and its consequences               82

2.4. Health problems and sudden illness as poverty driver and maintainer          87

Chapter 4. Poverty in the biographical experience of women from the young generation – ‘daughters’     91

1. Childhood                92

1.1. In the shadow of alcoholism      92

1.2. At the grandparents’ place          95

1.3. Mother’s divorce. Breaking off relations with the father 96

2. Adulth       97

2.1. Early, unplanned motherhood   97

2.2. Being a mother              99

2.3. Outside the labour market          100

2.4. Dependency on family support and social welfare              101

Chapter 5. Poverty in the biographical experience of women from the youngst generation – ‘granddaughters’      103

1. Childhood                106

1.1. Good childhood memories         106

1.2. Childhood trauma          107

2. Adolescence 109

2.1. Early disengagement from school – hanging out with those guys 109

2.2. Early pregnancy 110

3. Early adulthood 113

3.1. Single teenage motherhood 113

3.2. On the margins of the labour market 116

3.3. Undignifying housing conditions 117

3.4. Future plans 119

3.5. Women only 121

Chapter 6. Life histories of three families 123

1. The F. family 123

2. The W. family 133

3. The Z.B. family 143

Conclusions 153

References 159


About the authors 167