Families

Question 1

Instrumental and Expressive roles

Answer 1

Parsons
instrumental- male role, provide money
expressive- female role, look after family, domestic labour

Question 2

Joint and Segregated Conjugal roles

Answer 2

Bott
joint- couples share tasks like housework
segregated- separate instrumental and expressive roles

Question 3

March of Progress

Answer 3

Young and Willmott
see family as becoming increasingly equal to a symmetrical family, roles similar but not identical
more common in younger couples

Question 4

Feminist view on march of progress

Answer 4

Oakley
argue little has changed and that men and women are still unequal, believe that their similar roles are exaggerated
only 15% of husbands had high level of participation in housework

Question 5

Dual Burden/Triple Shift

Answer 5

Marsden
women have to be housewife, mother and work a job- paid work, emotional work, domestic work

Question 6

Cultural explanation for gender inequality

Answer 6

determined by patriarchal norms and values within society
Dunne- lesbian relationships more equal bc no male role or gender script to follow (no cultural norms that men and women follow)

Question 7

Material explanation for gender inequality

Answer 7

women generally earn less than men so rational to have men work more
Kan- for every £10,000 a year more a woman earns, she does two hours less housework per week (if women earn more then the roles will be more equal)

Question 8

Money Management

Answer 8

Vogler
allowance system- men give their wives allowance to budget to meet family’s needs, man retains surplus income
pooling system- both partners have access to income and joint expenditure

Question 9

Decision-making

Answer 9

Edgell
men have final say on very important decisions, important decisions taken jointly (never just by wife), less important decisions normally made by wife
men tend to have final say because they earn more and women are more financially dependant

Question 10

Personal life perspective on money

Answer 10

focuses on the meanings couples give to who controls the money- for some, one controlling money may be unfair but for others its what is best
Smart- same sex had no importance on who controlled money and was happy to leave to partners, did not see control of money as equal or unequal

Question 11

Patterns of domestic violence

Answer 11

dv does not occur randomly but follows patterns- men committing violence against women
Coleman- two women a week killed by a partner or former partner
Dobash and Dobash- violence set off due to challenging authority

Question 12

Radical Feminist explanation of dv

Answer 12

widespread dv is inevitable feature of patriarchy, keeps power over women
family is large patriarchal institution where men dominate women
male domination in state institutions also explains police reluctance of dv cases

Question 13

Materialist explanation of dv

Answer 13

Wilkinson- dv result of stress on family caused by social inequality, high stress means can’t maintain stable relationships so results in conflict
those with more social inequality more at risk of experiencing dv

Question 14

Social construction of childhood

Answer 14

there is no single universal childhood, different cultures and time periods have a different understanding of childhood
Punch- at 5yrs children in rural Bolivia expected to take on work responsibilities

Question 15

Globalisation of Western Childhood

Answer 15

welfare agencies have are imposing the western norms of childhood on the rest of the world

Question 16

History of Childhood

Answer 16

Aries
in middle ages childhood did not exist, children not seen as having different needs, began work when stopped weaning
used pieces of art as evidence- look like small adults

Question 17

Reasons for modern childhood

Answer 17

-laws restricting child labour
-introduction of compulsory schooling
-child protection and growth of children’s rights
-industrialisation

Question 18

Disappearance of childhood

Answer 18

Postman
information hierarchy- printed word made sharp divide between children who cant read and adults who can, tv blurs this distinction and so destroys the hierarchy meaning no difference between adults and children

Question 19

Postmodernity of childhood

Answer 19

Jenks
childhood changing not disappearing
adult relationships more unstable now so feelings of insecurity, children the only constant in an adults life so become overprotective of them

Question 20

March of progress of childhood

Answer 20

todays children are more valued, protected and have more rights, have laws to protect them and have a better survival rate
family is also more child-centered- people care a great deal about their children and and invest a lot into them

Question 21

Toxic Childhood

Answer 21

Palmer
rapid technological and cultural changes have damaged children physical, emotional and intellectual development
changes such as junk food, computer games and long hours worked by parents

Question 22

Conflict view of childhood

Answer 22

Marxists and Feminists
children today experience more control and oppression than ever

Question 23

Inequalities among children

Answer 23

gender- Hillman, boys allowed out after dark, girls do more domestic labour
ethnic- Brannen, asian parents more likely to be strict towards daughters
class- poor mothers have low birth weight children leads to delayed development, more likely to die in infancy and fall behind in school

Question 24

Inequalities between children and adults

Answer 24

adults control childrens space, time bodies and resources
Gittins- age patriarchy saying adults dominate children

Question 25

Functionalism and family- Murdock

Answer 25

family performs 4 essential functions:
-satisfaction of sex drive
-reproduction of next gen
-socialisation of the young
-meeting members economic needs

Question 26

Liberal feminism and family

Answer 26

hold a march of progress view, believe that the family is gradually becoming more equal

Question 27

Marxist feminism and family

Answer 27

main cause of womens oppression in family is capitalism not men
-women reproduce labour force through unpaid domestic labour
-women absorb anger, soak up husbands frustration
-women are a reserve army of cheap labour that can be taken on when extra workers needed, employers let them go and go back domestic

Question 28

Radical feminism and family

Answer 28

family and marriage are key institutions in patriarchy- men benefit from womens unpaid work
family must be abolished before women can be equal
political lesbianism to avoid sleeping with the enemy

Question 29

Difference feminism and family

Answer 29

cannot generalise womens experiences, lesbian and straight and white and black and WC and MC women will have different experiences of the family to each other

Question 30

Birth patterns

Answer 30

long term decline in birth rates
long term decline in fertility rate (average number of children a woman will have)

Question 31

Reasons for decline in birth rate

Answer 31

-changes in womens position: Harper- education of women most important reasons for decline, many choose career, use family planning
-decline in imr: Harper- if more babies die then have more babies
-children economic liability

Question 32

Effects of changes in fertility

Answer 32

family- women more likely to work due to smaller families
dependency ratio- fewer babies being born means fewer young adults and smaller working population, earnings of working population supports the dependant population
public services and policies- age of population is rising due to fewer babies, fewer schools and maternity services may also be needed

Question 33

Death patterns

Answer 33

death rate is declining

Question 34

Reasons for changes in deaths

Answer 34

Tranter- main reason due to decrease in deaths from infectious disease, decreased due to:
-improved nutrition
-medical improvements
-smoking decrease
-public health measures

Question 35

Changes in life expectancy

Answer 35

life expectancy increased
Harper- if continues we will reach ‘radical longevity’ with lots of people living to over 100
still class, gender and ethnicity differences: women live longer than men, poorest areas die 7 years before richest (Walker)

Question 36

Effects of ageing population

Answer 36

public services- older people consume more health services, overgeneralising
one person pensioner households- these account for 15% of all households, mainly women
dependency ratio- dependent group, increases burden on working population

Question 37

Old age in modernity and post-modernity

Answer 37

modernity- excluded from a lot bc they cant work (phillipson- useless to capitalism) dependent and powerless
postmodernity- Hunt, can choose identity regardless of our age, old become target for rejuvenation goods, age does not determine who we are anymore

Question 38

Patterns of migration

Answer 38

Immigration- until ww2 largest group was irish, during 1950s black immigrants started arriving and then from asia, more ethnically diverse society, european took over due to restrictions on on-white immigration
Emigration- Uk net exporter of people, more left than came in, went to usa/canada

Question 39

Impact of migration on population structure

Answer 39

Population size- currently growing due to- net migration in 2019 was 270,000, natural increase with deaths decreasing and births to non-uk mothers being high
Age structure- migration lowers average age of population, generally younger and have more babies
Dependency ratio- more likely to be working age so lowers it, have more children so increase it but will join work and lower it again, the longer they are settled the closer their fertility rate comes to average so reduces overall impact on the dependency ratio

Question 40

Impact of globalisation on migration

Answer 40

increased international migration, migration sped up, increased the diversity of types of migrant- come from a wide range of countries, feminisation of migration-work being increasingly filled by women from poor countries

Question 41

Types of migrant

Answer 41

Citizen- full citizenship
Denizen- privileged foreign nationals welcomed by state
Helot- slaves, unskilled poorly paid work, most exploited

Question 42

Migrant identities

Answer 42

transnational identity- Erisken, dont feel they belong to one culture or country due to more back and forth movement

Question 43

Politicisation of migration

Answer 43

Assimilationism- make migrants adopt host culture
Multiculturalism- accept migrants may want to retain separate culture, acceptance may be more superficial
shallow diversity- chicken tikka being englands national dish accepted
deep diversity- veiling of women not accepted

Question 44

Divorce patterns

Answer 44

divorce is increasing since 60s peaking in 93
then began decreasing but still high levels
women often divorcing men now

Question 45

Reasons for change in divorce- law changes

Answer 45

made it cheaper, equalised grounds between sexes, widened grounds for divorce
equalised in 23 causing spike from women
71- divorce reform act, made divorce grounds easier

Question 46

Reasons for change in divorce- decline in stigma

Answer 46

divorce is now more socially acceptable so people tend to do it more as it is not so much of a shame anymore

Question 47

Reasons for change in divorce- secularisation

Answer 47

religion is not as important anymore, people less likely to be influenced by teachings when making choices

Question 48

Reasons for change in divorce- rising expectations of marriage

Answer 48

Fletcher- people are less likely to tolerate an unhappy marriage, in past people did not have much choice over who they married so did not care if unhappy, today people have more expectations and will divorce if not happy

Question 49

Reasons for change in divorce- womens increased financial independence

Answer 49

women now in paid work- 72% in 2020
narrowed pay gap
girls do better in education
welfare benefits, dont have to remain financially dependent on their husbands

Question 50

Reasons for change in divorce- Individulisation

Answer 50

Beck- each person entitled to pursue own self interest
Giddens- people seek pure relationship that exists to satisfy each others needs and not out of duty, leads to higher divorce
can cause conflict of interest esp w both working and pursuing career

Question 51

Reasons for change in divorce- feminism

Answer 51

women do dual burden and so leads to conflict as men dont do both and so divorce. marriage is patriarchal and men benefit

Question 52

View of theories on divorce

Answer 52

New right- divorce undermines marriage, created welfare dependent women who burden the state, has bad effect on kids
Feminists- desirable as women are breaking free
Postmodernists- major cause of greater family diversity and people are choosing themselves
Functionalists- result of peoples higher expectations, not necessarily threat to marriage as institution
Personal life- can cause problems like finance, Smart- divorce become normalised and can adapt without disintegrating

Question 53

Marriage patterns

Answer 53

fewer people are marrying
remarriages increasing
people are marrying later
people less likely to marry in church

Question 54

Reasons for changing marriage patterns

Answer 54

-changing attitudes, quality more important than legal status
-secularisation, influence declines so people freer not to marry
-decline in stigma towards alternatives, cohabitation widely accepted and pregnancy no longer means marriage
-changing position of women, dont have to marry to be supported as have better careers
-fear of divorce, rising divorce rate so many people put off

Question 55

Cohabitation patterns

Answer 55

increasing, 1/7 cohabiting, double of of 96, cohabiting couples with kids fast growing family type

Question 56

Reasons for cohabitation patterns

Answer 56

-declines in stigma attached to sex outside of marriage
-young accept it more
-changing womens position
-secularisation

Question 57

One person households

Answer 57

big rise in people living alone, half of them are over 65
mainly men, in divorce kids live with mum
people marrying later and remaining single
older people have less options for partners
many also live alone but are in a relationship

Question 58

Childbearing patterns

Answer 58

nearly half of all children born outside of marriage
women having children later
women are having fewer children and many not having children at all

Question 59

Reasons for lone parent families

Answer 59

make up 24% of all families w children
risen due to increase in divorce and never married women having kids, linked to decline in stigma of birth outside of marriage
tend to be single mum- expressive role, custody gives kids to mum, men dont want to give up work for children, many mothers also single by choice

Question 60

New right view on lone parents

Answer 60

Murray
growth due to over-generous welfare state providing benefits for unmarried mums and kids
created perverse incentive that rewards stupid behaviour like having kids without being able to support them
solution is to abolish welfare benefits as will reduce dependency culture

Question 61

Step family patterns

Answer 61

10% of all families, at greater risk of poverty (smith), more diverse, can lead to divided conflict over loyalties

Question 62

Ethnic differences in family patterns- South Asian

Answer 62

Immigration has also brought over diff kinds of family patterns. Individualism taking place in British culture
higher marriage rates and low cohabitation and divorce. married younger and high fertility rates. obligation to assist extended kin, young had strong sense of duty for elders. high value on izzat (family honour)

Question 63

Ethnic differences in family patterns- Asian

Answer 63

Bhatti- signs of changing attitude among young, some conflict with elders often bc sons marrying out of ethnic group
rising rates of lone parenthood, increased from 10% to 17% in 20yrs
Qureshi- growing acceptance of divorce bc of conflicts within arranged marriages. While attitudes are not as individualistic as wider society, British Pakistani families becoming less distinctive

Question 64

Ethnic differences in family patterns- Black

Answer 64

Bethoud- higher proportion of of lone parents and lower of married and cohabiting families, continuation of caribbean families where mother households common and often no men are present
Reynolds- argues stats of lone parents are misleading and that many are stable non-cohabiting with a visiting partner
Mirza- higher rate of lone parents reflect high value that black women place on independence
leading towards individualism and personal choice

Question 65

Extended family

Answer 65

had declined but not completely disappeared. Willmott- exists as a dispersed extended family where they are physically separated but still very close in communication
Bell- emotional bonds with kin and and relied on them for support, suggests importance of bean pole family- result of increased life expectancy and smaller families
Finch&Mason- over 90% of people had given or accepted financial help from wider extended kin.
extended family continues to play important role for people both practically and emotionally but is not the classic extended family

Question 66

Modernism and nuclear family- Functionalism

Answer 66

Parsons sees nuclear family as suited to meeting needs of modern society for a geographically and socially mobile workforce and performs socialisation of children and stables adult personalities, add to stability of society. in modern society you will find a nuclear family, other family types dysfunctional as they cannot provide the functions as well

Question 67

Modernism and nuclear family- New right

Answer 67

firmly opposed to family diversity, see nuclear family as natural and based on biological differences between men and women, oppose same sex and cohabitation
primarily concerned with lone parents as they cannot socialise children, no male role model and more likely to be welfare dependent
Benson- 15,000 babies and over first three years 20% of cohabiting break down and 6% of marriage. only marriage can provide stable environment. Govs need to encourage couples to marry to avoid breakdowns

Question 68

Criticisms of modernism and new right

Answer 68

-Oakley: wrongly assumes roles are fixed by biology, negative campaign against feminism
-No evidence that children in lone parent families are more likely to be delinquent
-Smart: rate of cohabitation higher among poorer social groups so may be poverty that leads to breakdown instead

Question 69

Chester- neo-conventional family

Answer 69

family diversity is increasing but it is not significant nor negative, only important change is move from nuclear to neo-conventional
neo-conventional family defined by dual earners where both go to work
nuclear still remains the ideal to which most people aspire to
stats on household composition misleading as only a snapshot in time as their family will be changing
patterns: most adults marry and have kids, most marriages continue til death, cohabitation temporary phase before marriage

Question 70

Rapoports- five types of family diversity

Answer 70

family diversity increasing and positive response to peoples needs
-Organisational diversity: differences in ways family roles are organised
-Cultural diversity: diff culture, religion and ethnic groups have diff family structure
- Social class diversity: differences in structure due to income differences in households
-Life stage diversity: family structure differs according to stage in life cycle
- Generational diversity: older and younger generations have diff attitudes and experiences so will have diff views on on morality of divorce

Question 71

Individualisation thesis- Giddens

Answer 71

we have become freed and disembedded from traditional roles and structures and we have more freedom to choose how we live our lives, more equality and greater choice
Pure relationship- relationships now based on choice, no longer bound traditional norms, relationship exists solely to satisfy each others needs. the relationship will survive as long as its in both partners interest, couples stay together bc of love not tradition or sense of duty
means that it is less stable and can end at any moment, more family diversity
same sex couples are leading the way as no tradition and purely based on choice

Question 72

Negotiated family- Beck

Answer 72

we live in a risk society as people have more choice. greater equality and individualism led to new negotiated family- do not conform to trad roles but vary according to wishes and expectations of members and decide whats best for themselves, less stable as people leave if needs not met

Question 73

Connectedness thesis- Smart

Answer 73

agree there’s more diversity but disagree with Beck and Gidden
instead of seeing us as disembedded with loads of choice in relationships, she argues we are social beings whose choices are made within a web of connectedness. we live in a network of existing relationships which influence choices
class and gender also influence our choices- women often keep children after divorce, harder to find new relationship

Question 74

Postmodernism and families

Answer 74

family more fragmented with more choice and new types of family
Stacey- greater freedom benefited women, shape family to meet needs, can work and divorce and remarry. women created new types of family to better suit their needs, divorce extended family (linked by divorce not marriage)
cant make large scale generalisations like functionalists do as family is whatever the members choose to call their family

Question 75

China’s one child policy

Answer 75

population control policy, supervised by workplace family planning committees who women had to ask permission from to get get pregnant. often waiting list and quota for each factory. couples who complied got benefits like free child healthcare. couples who broke this had to pay a fine and women faced pressure to sterilise after first child

Question 76

Communist Romania policy

Answer 76

in 1980s policies introduced to drive up birth rate which had fallen along with living standards. restricted contraception and abortion, made divorce harder and made childless couples pay an extra 5% income tax

Question 77

Functionalist view on policy

Answer 77

see policies as helping families to perform their functions more effectively and make life better for their members
Fletcher- introduction of health, education and housing policies since industrial revolution has led to development of welfare state that supports family in performing functions more effectively
criticisms- assumes all members of family benefit equally from social policies, assumes there is a march of progress with social policies steadily making family life better

Question 78

Policing the family

Answer 78

Donzelot- offers diff perspective on relationship between family and state policies from functionalists, sees policy as form of state power and control over families, uses Foucalts concept of surveillance, Foucalt sees power as something found throughout society- Donzelot applies it to family
interested in how professionals carry out surveillance of families- social workers and doctors use their knowledge to control and change families (policing the family)
poor families more likely to be seen as a problem that professionals target for improvement
criticisms- failing to identify clearly who benefits from such policies of surveillance

Question 79

Nazi family policy

Answer 79

state had a twofold policy, encouraged the healthy and racially pure to breed a master race (restricting access to abortion), also compulsorily sterilised 375,000 disabled people as it was deemed unfit to breed on grounds of physical malformation, mental retardation, deafness of blindness

Question 80

New Right view on policy

Answer 80

strongly in favour of the conventional nuclear family, see it as naturally self reliant and capable of providing for its members, changes that have led to greater family diversity is threatening the conventional family

Question 81

New right view on policy- welfare policy

Answer 81

Murray- critical of welfare state, providing generous welfare benefits undermine nuclear family and encourages dysfunctional family types that harm society, offer perverse incentive (reward irresponsible behaviour)- fathers see state will maintain their children so abandon responsibilities, providing housing for unmarried teen mothers encourages young girls to get pregnant
current policies encourage a dependency culture where individuals depend on state rather than being self reliant

Question 82

Criticisms of Parsons theory of the family

Answer 82

Young and Willmott- pre industrial family was nuclear not extended with parents and children working together
they argue the hardship of the early industrial period gave rise to the mum centred WC extended family, not the nuclear family like parsons suggests
extended family has not disappeared and continues to exist bc of the important functions it still performs

Question 83

Parsons theory of the family

Answer 83

the functions the family performs depends on the kind of society it is found, argues the particular structure and functions of a given type of family will fit the needs of the society in which its found, finds two basic types of society- modern industrial and traditional pre industrial, extended fits pre industrial and nuclear fits industrial, when britain began to industrialise the extended family began giving way to the nuclear bc of different needs

Question 84

Parsons theory of the family- Two essential needs

Answer 84

sees industrial as having two essential needs:
geographically mobile workforce- industries constantly popping up and decline in diff parts of country so requires people to move to where the jobs are, easier for compact two gen nuclear family
socially mobile workforce- industrial society based on evolving science and requires skilled technically competent workforce, essential that the most talented people take on most important jobs, individuals status is achieved so makes social mobility possible, better in nuclear as in extended the adult sons live at home in fathers house where father has higher ascribed status as head of house, at work son may have higher achieved status so would give rise to tensions under same roof, solution is for adult sons to leave the home and form their own nuclear family

Question 85

Marxist theory of the family- Inheritance of property

Answer 85

key factor in determining shape of all social institutions is mode of production (who owns and controls societys productive forces), called the earliest classless society ‘primitive communism’ bc there was no private property and all members owned means of production communally, as production and wealth increased private property came with it- class of men emerged who were able to secure control of means of production. Engels- monogamy became essential bc of the inheritance of private property, men had to be sure of the paternity of their children in order to ensure that their legitimate heirs inherit from them, also turned women into mere instrument for production of children

Question 86

Marxist theory of the family- Ideological functions and unit of consumption

Answer 86

Ideological functions- socialises children into idea that hierarchy and inequality are inevitable, parental power over children accustoms them to idea that there always has to be someone in charge and prepares them for working life. Zaretsky- family offers apparent haven from harsh and exploitative world of capitalism as workers can be themselves and have a private life, argues it is largely an illusion as the family cannot meet its members needs
Unit of consumption- family plays major role in generating profits for capitalists, advertisers urge families to keep up with the joneses by consuming latest products, media target children who use pester power to get parents to spend more, children who lack latest must haves are mocked by peers

Question 87

Personal life perspective of the family

Answer 87

argues other theories assume the nuclear family is the dominant time and they are structural theories and assume that families and members are puppets, should focus on the meaning its members give to relationships rather than on the ‘functions’
strongly influenced by interactionist ideas and to understand we must start from pov of individuals and the meanings they give their relationships, takes a wider view of relationships outside of blood or marriage ties- relationships with friends, fictive kin, gay and lesbian chosen families, relationships w dead relatives, relationships w pets
Nordqvist and Smart studied donor conceived children and what counts as family when your child has genetic link with a relative stranger but not your partner, some parents emphasised importance of social relationships over genetic ones in forming family bonds, hard to define what family is in this case- are donor parents counted as grandparents for the child

Question 88

Evaluation of personal life perspective on the family

Answer 88

helps us understand how people themselves construct and define their relationships
accused of taking too broad of a view, including a wide range of diff kinds of personal relationships means we ignore what is special abt relationships based on blood or marriage

Question 89

New right view on policy- Solution and Evaluation

Answer 89

solution- policy must be changed with cuts in welfare spending and tighter restrictions on who is eligible for benefits, would mean taxes could be reduced, gives fathers more incentive to work and provide for their families, denying council housing to teen mums would reduce incentive to be pregnant young, supports policies to support nuclear family like taxes that favour marries over cohabiting couples
evaluation- feminists argue it is attempt to justify return to patriarchal family, wrong assumes patriarchal nuclear family is natural rather than socially constructed, Wallace- cutting benefits drives poor families into greater poverty

Question 90

New right view on policy- Influence on policies

Answer 90

Conservative gov 1979-97: Maggie T’s gov banned promotion of homosexuality by local authorities, defined divorce as social problem and emphasised responsibility of parents for their kids after divorce, set up Child Support Agency to enforce maintenance payments, however did make divorce easier
New labour gov 1997-2010: shared view w new right that family is bedrock of society and introduced Parenting Orders for parents of young offenders, however they rejected view that family should have one male earner, policies favoured dual earner neo conventional families like longer maternity leave, working families tax credit and the new deal, also introduced civil partnerships for gay couples, unmarried couples had same right to adopt and outlawed discrimination of sexuality
Coalition gov 2010-15: Hayton- conservs long divided between modernisers and traditionalists, conserv party found it hard to maintain consistent policy line, conserv led coalition gov introduced gay marriage

Question 91

Feminist view on policy

Answer 91

Land- policies assume the ideal family is patriarchal nuclear family, this norm affects the policies governing family life and so effect of policies is to reinforce that type of family at expense of other types (self fulfilling prophecy)
tax and benefit policies- assumes husbands are main wage earners and makes it hard for wives to claim social security benefits in their own right bc it is expected their husband will provide
childcare- not enough childcare payed for by gov to allow parents to work full time, means women are restricted from working and are economically dependent on partners
care for sick and elderly- gov policies assume families will provide this care and this prevents them working full time

Question 92

Feminist view on policy- Evaluation

Answer 92

not all policies directed at maintaining patriarchy like equal pay act and sex discrimination laws, right for lesbians to marry and benefits to lone parents as well as refuges for women escaping domestic violence

Question 93

Gender regimes and social policy

Answer 93

by examining policy from a comparative perspective across diff societies we can see whether social policy to reinforce patriarchy is inevitable, for example a countrys policy on taxation and childcare will all affect whether women can work full time or if they have to forgo paid work
Drew- used concept of gender regimes to describe how social policies in diff countries can either encourage or discourage gender equality:
Familistic gender regimes- policies are based on trad gender division between male breadwinner and female housewife, in Greece there is little state welfare and women have to rely heavily on support from extended kin
Individualistic gender regimes- policies are based on belief that husbands and wives should be treated the same, in Sweden policies treat husbands and wives as equally responsible for breadwinning and domestic tasks

Question 94

Gender regimes and social policy- State vs Market

Answer 94

Drew argues most european countries are moving towards individualistic gender regimes however policies like publicly funded childcare are not cheap and involve major conflicts about who should benefit from social policies and who should pay for them
Feminists argue that since the global recession began in 2008, cutbacks in gov spending throughout europe has led to pressure on women to take more responsibility for caring for family members as the state retreats from providing welfare, during this period there has also been trend towards neo-liberal welfare policies where individuals and families are encouraged to use the market rather than state to meet their needs like private pension
differences between european countries show that social policies can play important role in promoting or preventing gender equality in the family