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Families and Households - Social Policy (Social Policies in the UK…
Families and Households - Social Policy
Social Policies in the UK
Social Policy:
Laws or Plans made by the Government
Marriage & Divorce:
Divorce Reform
Act (1969) - Could lead to increase in lone parent
Same Sex
Marriage (2012) - decline in nuclear family
Welfare Benefits:
New Deal
(1998) - helped lone mothers get back to work
Child Support Agency
(1993)
Parental Leave Act
(1998)
Millar
compared certain aspects of life in the 1970's to the 2000's in order to analyse the effects of social policies:
Number of Abortions
1970's-111,000 - 2008-178,000 (
Increase
due to Abortion Act)
Number of Divorces
1970's-79,000 - 2008-158,000 (
Increase
due to Divorce Reform Act)
% of Familes headed by Lone Parents
1970's-8% - 2008-24% (
Increase
due to divorce reform act & adoption act)
Average Household Size
1970's-3.1 - 2008-2.4 (
decrease
due to contraception & abortion act)
% of Mothers Exmployed
1970's-49% - 2008-69% (
Increase
due to New Deal & Parental Leave act)
Having Children:
Contraceptive Pill
(1961 & 1967)
Abortion Act
(1967)
Adoption
and Children Act (2002) - single people could apply for adoption
Children:
Child Labour Laws
Compulsory Schooling
(2015)
Age Restriction Laws
Social Policies in Other Countries
Germany 1930's:
Nazi Germany - Encouraged 'racially pure' to breed a 'master race'. This led to 375,000 disabled people being sterilised.
China 1980's:
Wanted to restrict the population growing by introducing the one child policy, with benefits for those who complied and punishments for those who didn't.
Romania 1980's:
Government tired to increase the birth rate by restricting contraception and abortion and divorce. Unmarried individuals and childless couples had to pay an extra 5% tax.
Social Policy History in the UK
1979-1997 -
Conservatives
(Margaret Thatcher)
1997-2010 -
Labour
(Tony Blair)
2010-2015 -
Conservatives & Lib-Dem's
(David Cameron & Nick Clegg)
2015- ... -
Conservatives
Left Wing:
Nuclear family s desirable
but
alternative family types are also
acceptable
The state should play a role in family life
2010-2015
Coalition (Conservatives & Lib Dems):
Continued a lot of
New Right ideas
Concerned about
Traditional family values being lost
Promotes increase in
paternity leave
Conservatives divided;
Traditionalists and Modernists
Evaluation:
+Positive laws
-paternity leave& same-sex marriage
Inconsistent
family policies
Increased
inequalities
Right Wing:
Nuclear family
is ideal family type.
Alternative types are
inadequate
The state should pay a limited role n family life
1979-97
New Right - Conservative:
Nuclear family
encouraged
Greater
self - reliance
(less reliance on state) will allow the family to meet its need more efficiently
Increase in
family diversity
threatens the conventional family and
produces social problems
Tighter
restrictions on benefits
and who is eligible for them
Marriage tax
to encourage those to marry
Evaluation:
Blames the victims
+Were in power for a long time
assumes other family types are inferior
Many lone parents are working not on benefits
1997-2010
New Labour:
First government to address the division of labour in the family
Have a better acceptance for
family diversity
but nuclear family is desirable
Introduced policies to help
lone parents
Appointed a
minister of children
Believe
state intervention
can be beneficial for
family life
-
child tax credits
to be paid to the main caregiver
Evaluation:
+accepting of family diversity
functionalists disagree
'nanny state'
-too much interference
+Helps with benefits & focuses on children
Perspectives on Families and Social Policies
Donzelot: Policing the Family
Donzelot offers a different perspective on the relationship between the family and state policies.
He has a
conflict view of society
and he sees policy as a form of
state power and control
over families.
He uses
Foucault's
concept of
surveillance
(observing and monitoring) and applies this idea to the family.
In particular, he argues that social workers, health visitors and doctors use their knowledge to
control 'problem' families.
Evaluation:
Functionalists
argue that social policies are beneficial for the family
Marxists
and
Feminists
criticise Donzelot for
failing to identify
clearly
who benefits
from such policies,
Marxists
argue policies
benefit the bourgeoisie
whereas,
Feminists
argue that policies
benefit men
.