Within the confines of the receding Swedish welfare state, family homelessness and poverty are on the rise among one-parent families, in particular those headed by a single migrant mother. This development follows a trend that is noticeable across advanced welfare states, where female-headed households are facing an increased risk of being locked into vicious circles of low-paid work, inadequate income protection schemes, and porr housing options. Drawing on the findings from a PHD research project that traced the experiences of precariously housed single migrant mothers in greater Stockholm over time, this paper offers a critical perspective on current restrictive policies and practices that seek to impose "discipline" on mothers in poverty. It suggests that the intersection of weak safety net programmes for homeless families and discipining measures imposed through the social assistance scheme, risk exacerbating precarity and vulnerability rather than offer support or solutions. As a result, it is argued that there is an urgent need to reassess and re-imagine social work practice with vulnerable and precariously housed families in Sweden from both an ethical and political perspective.