Career Counseling and Life Trajectories in France: Research and Perspectives for Single Parenthood

The work–family literature is abundant, and there are a considerable number of manuscripts in the field. The main goal of this note is to discuss the fact that certain social, affective and economic aspects can impacts a single woman’s life trajectory. We try to examine the psychosocial determinants of single parenthood within a dynamic of territorial anchoring in order to introduce a new perspective regarding single parents’ trajectories and career counseling. Our hypotheses is We think that this social path takes root in a process of territorial anchoring which can exacerbate, or slow down, the emergence of certain health-related social vulnerability factors as well as their effects on the family unit itself. This note will focus on three aspects: the links between the social path and social/health vulnerability; to what extent this articulation activates or adds other factors of vulnerability such as precariousness, health problems, difficulty in work/non-work time management, lack of mobility; the psychosocial determinants of single parenthood and their fit within a dynamic of attachment to a neighborhood/municipality. The article also discusses the orientation for future paradigms in career counseling.