Families and Households - Social Policy
Social Policies in the UK
Social Policies in Other Countries
Social Policy History in the UK
Perspectives on Families and Social Policies
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
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
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)
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.
- 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
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
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
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.