families and social policy Flashcards
what is China’s one child policy?
the government’s population control policy aimed to discourage coupes from having more than one child
in a work place, women must seek permission to become pregnant (often a waiting list or quota)
couples who comply get extra benefits such as free child healthcare and higher tax allowances, their child will also get priority in education and housing later in life
couples who disobey this must repay allowances and pay a fine
what was the policy in which communist romania set up in the 1980s?
wanted to drive up birth rate which was declining, restricted contraception and abortion, set up infertility treatment centres, made divorce more difficult, lowered legal age of marriage to 15 and made unmarried adults and childless couples pay extra 5% income tax
what was the nazi policy in the 1930s?
encourages healthy and supposedly ’racially pure’ to breed a ‘master race’ by restricting contraception and abortion
sought to keep women out of workforce and confine them to ‘children, kitchen and church’
the state compulsorily sterilised 375,000 disabled people who were deemed unfit to breed on ground of ‘physical malformations, mental retardation, epilepsy, imbecility, deafness or blindness’ (many of these people were later murdered in nazi concentration camps)
how do functionalists see policies for the family? what does Fletcher argue? give an example
as helping families perform all their functions more effectively and making life better for their members
argues that the introduction of health, education and housing policies has led to the development in welfare state which supports the family in its functions effectively
eg the NHS means that doctors and medicine help the family to take care of themselves
how is the functionalist view criticised?
assumed all members of the family benefit equally from social policies; whereas feminists argue policies often benefit men over women
it assumes that there is a march of progress as the policies gradually make family life better; however marxists argue that policies can also turn the clock back and reverse previous progress
what does Donzelot argue?
offers a conflict view of society and sees policy as a form of state power and control over families
he argues that social workers and doctors use their knowledge to control and change families, calling this “the policing of families”
why do marxists and feminists criticise Donzelot?
fails to identify clearly who benefits from policies of surveillance
social policies benefit capitalist class
men are benefitted more than women
what does the new right argue about policies within the family?
in favour of nuclear family
believes changes have led to greater family diversity; such as increases in divorce, cohabitation, same sex partnerships and lone parenthood which are threatening nuclear family
has a major impact on family roles and relationships as people become less self reliant
the less state interferes the better family life will be
what does Almond (new right) argue?
laws making divorce easier undermine the idea of marriage
introduction of civil partnerships sends out message that the state do not see heterosexual marriage as superior
tax laws discriminate against nuclear families with a sole breadwinner
increased rights for unmarried cohabitants (adoption, pension rights etc) sending out the signal that marriage is no longer considered special or better
what does Murray (new right) argue?
welfare benefits offer ‘perverse incentives’ which are rewards for irresponsible behaviour; for example: if father see that the state will maintain their children some will abandon their family responsibilities, providing council houses for teen mothers may encourage them to become pregnant for housing, growth of lone parent families encouraged by benefits meaning more boys grow up without father figures
what is the new rights solution? what is the advantage of this?
they argue that policies must change, with cuts in welfare spending and tighter restrictions on who is eligible for benefits
this would mean taxes would be reduced and give fathers an incentive to work and provide for their families
taxes would favour married couples
why is the new right criticised?
feminists argue it is a way to return to traditional patriarchal nuclear family which subordinated women to men
it assumes the nuclear family is ‘natural’ rather than being a social construct
what did the conservative government do between 1979-97?
Margaret Thatcher in power
banned promotion of homosexuality
defined divorce as a social problem
emphasised importance of amount of responsibility parents had over children
set up child support agencies to enforce maintenance payments by absent fathers
what did the new labour government do between 1997-2010?
saw family as the bedrock of society
emphasised need of parents to take responsibility for children, introducing parenting orders for parents of young offenders
favoured duel earner new conventional families: longer maternity leave, working family tax credit, the new deal (helping lone families)
tried to help children out of poverty with higher benefits
civil partnerships for same sex couples
unmarried couples have same rights as married couples
outlawing discrimination on ground of sexuality
what did the conservative led governments do from 2010?
modernisers - who recognise that families are now more diverse
traditionalists - who favour new right ideologies
introduced gay marriage
