Families with low resources striving for resilience in the United Kingdom

This chapter examines the living situation and perspectives of the families in the UK research. It first looked at the developments that families had to respond to, before going on to examine how they managed their situation and their views on what was possible for them (in the sense of what they saw as being under their control) and what they would need to be resilient. The evidence showed that most people were coping by absorbing loss or greater demand on existing resources, and so the sustainability of their situation is in doubt. There were many tensions between care-giving, trying to manage low income and taking up paid employment, and the ‘right thing to do’ was worked out through what people view as ethical, care-related agency. Navigating is a balancing act. Five main barriers to progress or change came across very strongly: poor job opportunities, a poor service infrastructure, a welfare system that is difficult to access and that offers only a low level of support, engrained gender divisions, and a social context in which people feel criticized or even ostracized because of their situation. The welfare state was widely seen not to be focused on meeting people's needs.