ABSTRACT
This chapter illustrates how sociological research can contribute to the development of critical perspectives on inequalities in health, with implications for both policy and practice. It does so by focusing on a study of mothers caring for children in households dependent on income support. Drawing on mothers’ accounts of their daily lives, this study provides an example of how, through sociological research, a fine-grained understanding can be developed of the circumstances in which and routines through which women in low-income households work to promote the health of their families. Interweaving quantitative and qualitative data, the study uncovers the contradictory nature of this ‘health work’, with mothers’ caring strategies resting on patterns of behaviour, like cigarette smoking, which place health at risk.
