In the 1980s, Surinamese-Dutch feminists drew attention to how policymakers failed to recognise the reality faced by single mothers of colour. Political scientist Eline Westra and policy officer Bram Hodes show how policy logic and everyday life still often run at cross-purposes, even today. By Harriet Duurvoort
Why are you so drawn to the topic of single mothers?
Eline Westra: ‘During my research into the Dutch welfare state in the 1980s, I was deeply moved by the analyses and critiques of Black feminists, in particular by the Surinamese-Dutch feminist collective Ashanti. The group was politically and socially active between 1980 and 1987 and published the national women’s newspaper *Ashanti*. This provided a platform for perspectives that were scarcely heard within the dominant, white, middle-class feminism. It covered topics such as domestic violence, sexuality – including queer and lesbian relationships – poverty, migration policy and teenagers running away from home. A central theme was single motherhood, with a specific focus on single mothers of colour.’
Bram Hodes: ‘My grandmother was a single mother and a feminist. Through my master’s thesis on issues in feminist philosophy, I learnt more about this theme. Through various connections, I ended up at the 1ouderpunt Foundation. We are committed to empowering single mothers. We offer training courses, facilitate peer support networks and advocate for their interests by engaging in dialogue with national and local authorities about the issues we encounter in our work.’
What mismatch between policy and practice does historical research reveal?
Westra: ‘Within Afro-Surinamese and wider Caribbean communities, single parenthood has been a common phenomenon for generations. Yet this reality was scarcely recognised within the Dutch welfare state, which was largely structured around a single model of the family: the white nuclear family, at that time consisting of a male breadwinner and his wife, who ideally could stay at home to look after the children and the household.’
‘In practical terms, Ashanti demonstrated how social security benefits were insufficient to support a single-parent family, particularly when there were several children. Furthermore, the lack of accessible and affordable childcare posed a huge barrier to single mothers finding paid work and moving off social security. Expensive childcare hit Surinamese and other migrant mothers particularly hard, as they were more likely to rely on low-paid work.
‘Ashanti also challenged persistent misconceptions about single motherhood. It was sometimes seen as proof of independence and emancipation: women who were “managing without a man”. According to Ashanti, many women had not consciously chosen single parenthood, and in any case, self-reliance should never be used as an excuse for inadequate or non-existent policy.’
Many aspects are better organised now, aren’t they?
Westra: ‘The problems Ashanti highlighted are still recognisable in many respects today. Although childcare is now organised on a broader scale and mothers’ labour force participation has increased significantly, the current system is complex, bureaucratic and risky. The benefits system is opaque for many single parents and can cause significant financial uncertainty, as was painfully evident in the benefits scandal.’
Hodes: ‘We, too, see that policy and much of the support provided still frequently fail to meet the needs and complexity of real-life situations, particularly for single mothers of colour.’
I have been deeply moved by the analyses of the feminist collective Ashanti’
What are the main challenges?
Hodes: ‘Much of today’s policy aimed at single mothers operates within the framework of economic independence. As a result, single mothers are implicitly framed as passive recipients of, for example, social security benefits, rather than as mothers who are working incredibly hard day in, day out to make ends meet without a partner. Policy-makers want to “activate” them towards paid work.
‘That image of passivity and “activation” sometimes also obscures policy shortcomings. By rushing to focus on concrete steps such as actively applying for jobs, without first considering what these women need to be able to do so, policymakers overlook the fact that these mothers are often very motivated, but simply lack the time. For instance, there are still very few policies that encourage an equal division of care and work responsibilities between former partners.’
How does 1ouderpunt address these problems?
Hodes: ‘It offers a strong network and training programmes for single mothers. It is the largest network for single mothers in the Netherlands, where they can meet one another. We developed the empowerment training programme “Single SuperMom”: nine sessions that help single mothers to boost their self-confidence and gain greater control over their lives. It focuses on the issues affecting their lives and provides the space they need to take steps towards paid work, education or voluntary work, and to build and maintain their social network.’
Single-parent families – According to the CBS (Central Bureau of Statistics), there were nearly 2.7 million families with children living at home in the Netherlands in 2025, of which 626,593 were single-parent families. In 503,729 of these, a mother is the head of the household. In 2025, the 1ouderpunt Foundation ran 20 training courses for around 240 participants. Bram Hodes: ‘We find that we have an above-average reach amongst groups of single mothers who are harder for other organisations to reach, such as mothers from closed communities.’
Mothers are often very motivated, but they simply don’t have enough time’
Are there any other aspects that policymakers might take into account?
Hodes: ‘Policy jargon and academic phrasing create a sense of distance and make it difficult to take complex life stories seriously. Local authorities and policymakers like to work with lists, categories and statistics, but struggle with nuance and rapidly changing life circumstances. The lives of single parents cannot be captured in lists. For many single parents, no two days are the same and needs are constantly shifting.
For example, using the word ‘pathway’ instead of ‘process’ says a lot. A reintegration pathway suggests a straight line with a start and an end point. It would already help if a civil servant framed it in a way that leaves room for setbacks and delays.’
What is the most important lesson?
Westra: ‘The intersection of race, migrant background, gender and class leads to multiple forms of disadvantage for single mothers of colour. Their specific position and needs were often not translated into appropriate policy. The Ashanti feminists already pointed this out, and it still holds true today.’
Hodes: ‘Comparing the past with the present makes one thing clear: the question of who policies are actually designed for remains as relevant as ever. Social policy has different outcomes for different groups, depending on income, background, gender and family situation. Those differences are not going to disappear. Creating flexible and inclusive policy is complex, but necessary. It requires structural attention to experiential knowledge – not merely as an illustration, but as a fully-fledged source.’
Developing flexible and inclusive policies is complicated, but necessary’
Bram Hodes is a policy officer at Foundation 1ouderpunt, the national network for single parents. Their approach, which focuses on the socio-economic participation of single mothers, was formalised in 2017 in collaboration with the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment as the ‘Single SuperMom’ empowerment training programme. In 2024 and 2025, the programme was monitored and further developed in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science.
Eline Westra is conducting research at Leiden University into how diversity policies are formulated and implemented. She is focusing specifically on postcolonial citizenship and Surinamese-Dutch activism, both past and present. For example, she has investigated how Black feminists viewed the Dutch welfare state in the 1980s and how their political demands tie in with contemporary social debates.
The white paper Dilemmas of Diversity – Diversity Policy and Practice contains eight dialogues between sixteen experts from academia, government and civil society organisations on current issues. The publication is intended for policymakers, administrators, professionals and anyone working on inclusive public services and social participation.
The publication (written in Dutch) is available for download via this link. Would you like to receive a printed copy of the white paper? Send an email to Katja Hoiting from Leiden-Delft-Erasmus Universities alliance: k.hoiting@tudelft.nl
