Family and Social Policy Flashcards
How is the idea that the Traditional Nuclear Family is the dominant family type, reflected in social policy?
- No free childcare
- Paternity leave is shorter than maternity leave
What social policies impact on the family?
Give at least two examples.
At least two from:
- Health and social services
- Laws around divorce, marriage, adoption, abortion and contraception.
- The education system - makes children dependent on their families for longer.
- Welfare benefit system.
- Civil partnership legislation (2004)
- Legalisation of same sex marriage.
How has state policy affect family life in Russia?
Give at least two examples.
At least two from:
- Aim was to destroy the pre-revolutionary family - seen as an obstacle to the creation of socialist society.
- 1920s - Russian government changed laws around divorce and abortion, equality between sexes and the provision of communal nurseries.
- Difficulties faced by the state - Russia needed to industrialise and prepare for war.
How has state policy affect family life in China?
Give at least two examples.
- Population controlled by the one child policy.
- State aimed to discourage couples from having more than one child.
- Policy was supervised by workplace family committees and women must seek their permission to become pregnant.
- Couples who comply with the policy are rewarded - free healthcare and higher tax allowances.
- Couples who break the rule must repay the allowance and pay a fine.
- China now have a two children policy - TFR was too low and there were not enough children to support the elderly (high dependency ratio).
- China will not be able to grow their population very quickly - it has become the norm to have only one child.
How has state policy affect family life in Romania?
Give at least two examples.
- They restricted contraception and abortion policies.
- Divorce was made difficult to obtain.
- They set up infertility treatment centres.
- They lowered the legal age of marriage to 16.
- Unmarried adults and childless couples had to pay an extra 5% income tax.
How has state policy affect family life in Nazi Germany?
Give at least two examples.
- Access to abortion and contraception was restricted.
- Policy wanted to keep women out of work and confine them to domestic chores.
- The state compulsorily sterilised 375,000 disabled people who were deemed unfit to have children. Many were later murdered in Nazi concentration camps.
How has state policy affect family life in Britain?
Give at least two examples.
- The family is seen as a private sphere in which the government does not want to interfere except when things ‘go wrong’ such as cases of child abuse.
What do Functionalists argue about family and social policy?
- All policies help the family to perform its functions and make life better.
- The state acts in the interest of society.
What do the New Right argue about family and social policy?
- That the state should avoid undermining the natural, self reliant family.
- The state interferes with the natural family type (TNF).
What do the New Right believe to be the solution to family and social policy?
- Policy must be changed.
- Restrictions must be placed on who is eligible for benefits and how much they receive.
What do New Right believe to be the result of changes to policy with regards to the family?
Give at least one example
At least one from:
- Cutting benefits would mean taxes could be reduced and this would give fathers more of an incentive to work and provide for their family.
- Denying council housing to unmarried teenagers would lessen the incentive for girls to become pregnant at a young age.
What are some evaluation points for New Right ideas with regards to family and social policy?
Give at least two examples.
At least two from:
- Their ideas wrongly assume that the traditional nuclear family is natural rather than socially constructed.
- Abbott and Wallace argue that cutting benefits would drive poor families into even greater poverty and make them even less self-reliant.
What do the New Labour believe about family and social policy?
Give at least one example
At least one from:
- They have a more positive view of the state and acknowledge that women need to work to.
- Some social policies can benefit families - welfare, taxation and minimum wage policies were partly aimed at lifting children out of poverty by re-distributing income to poorer families through higher benefits.
What policies did the New Labour party introduce with regards to family and social policy?
- Longer maternity leave.
- Working Families Tax Credit - enabled parents to claim some tax relief on childcare costs.
- The New Deal - helping lone parents return to work.
How do Feminists view social policy in relation to the family?
Give at least one example.
At least one from:
- They see social policy as patriarchal - benefitting men.
- Argue that all social institutions including the state help maintain a woman’s subordinate position in the family.
