Lone mothers are an increasingly vulnerable group in Sweden. Mothers with less education are particularly at risk. This short paper discusses some findings from a study exploring low-income lone mothers’ possibility to reconcile paid work with family commitments. Results show that a lack of financial resources significantly limited the mothers’ possibility to combine various responsibilities and practice the kind of mothering they preferred. This conflict between aspirations and access to means for their realization engendered dilemmas and feelings of inadequacy.