Family - Family and Social Policy - 2.8 Flashcards
Social Policy
> Plans/actions of state e.g. laws for marriage/divorce which directly affect family
> Compulsory school indirectly affects families and keeps children dependent for longer
Cross-Cultural Examples of State Polices
> China’s One Child Policy
Communist Romania
Nazi Family Policy
China’s One Child Policy - Cross-Cultural Examples of State Polices
> Population control policy discouraged people from having more than one child e.g. women need permission from employer for pregnancy
> If people conform, they get benefits e.g. free childcare & a higher tax allowance
> But no compliance means fines
Communist Romania - Cross-Cultural Examples of State Polices
> Made policies to increase the birth rate, - stopped contraception & abortion
> Lowering age of marriage to 15, childless couples had to pay more tax
Nazi Family Policy - Cross-Cultural Examples of State Polices
> Encourage healthy & racially pure to breed a master race - stopped abortion/contraception
> Sterilised disabled people, and later murdered them in contraception camps.
Perspectives on Families & Social Policy (Key Studies)
> Flecther (Functionalist view on Social Policy)
> Donzelot (Policing the Family)
Condry (Policing the Family)
> Almond (New Right on Policies undermining the nuclear family)
Murray (New Right view on Welfare Policy & Dependency Culture, Solutions)
> Hayton (Modernist & Traditional Division & Policies criticising the New Right) (Coalition Gov 2010-15)
> Land (Feminism & Social Policy)
Leonard (Feminism & State Policies)
> Drew (Gender Regimes, EU)
Fletcher’s view on Social Policy (Functionalist)
> Policies improve family life, welfare state, supports families in caring for their members better e.g. NHS etc.
Marxist & Feminist (Criticisms of Functionalism)
> Only benefits men at the expense of women
> Policies reduce progress e.g. cutting welfare benefits
Donzelot (Policing the Family)
> Conflict view policies are state control over the family, a form of surveillance widespread in society
> Doctors/Social Workers watch the family, turning them into cases
> The working class are surveilled more as they are seen as the cause of anti-social behaviour & Crime.
Condry (Policing the Family)
> State control family through parenting orders by courts.
> Parents of young offenders are forced to go to parenting classes
A03 Perspectives on Families & Social Policy (Key Studies)
> Marxist & Feminist (Criticisms of Functionalism Policing Family)
> Functionalist (Criticisms of New Right)
> Feminists (Criticisms of New Right)
> Abbott & Wallace (Criticisms of New Right)
Marxist & Feminist (Criticisms of Policing of Family)
> Policies work in the interests of the upper class
> Men benefit from policies
Almond (New Right on Policies undermining the nuclear family)
> Divorce easier undermines marriage & now increased rights for cohabitants e.g. adoption
> LGBT marriage, shows state don’t see heterosexual as better
> Tax discriminates against the nuclear family as they pay more
Murray (New Right view on Welfare Policy & Dependency Culture, Solutions)
> Policies encourage lone parent families and removes work ethic - they encourage dads to abandon the family
> Solution is to cut benefits to give an incentive for men to work to pay for their children, social housing should not be given to teenage mothers
Feminists - AO3 of New Right view on Policy
> Justifies patriarchy and subordinates women, they restrict them to the housewives role.
> Patriarchal nuclear family is a form of social control
Abbott & Wallace - AO3 of New Right view on Policy
> Critical of the New Right view on cutting welfare benefits as this could tip families into poverty
Conservative Gov (1979-97) - Gov Policies in Favour of NR
> Stopped promotion of LGBT & set up child support so men were more responsible
Conservative Gov (1979-97) - Gov Policies against the New Right
> Divorce easier, children born to unmarried couples had the same rights as those born to married couples.
New Labour Gov (97-10) - Gov Policies against New Right
> Favoured dual earner families more than the traditional nuclear family & made civil partnerships legal for same sex couples
> Redistributing income to poor with increased benefits to lift children out poverty
New Labour (97-10) Policies in favour of dual earner families
> Increased maternity leave
Right to have time of work for family reasons
Tax relief on childcare costs.
Hayton (Collation Gov 2010-15)
> Modernists recognise family diversity and the need for reflection in policies, but Traditionalists with a New Right view reject it
> Introduced gay marriage opposed by Traditionalists, modernist influences were weakened by Lib Dem coalition
Land (Feminism on Social Policy)
> Policies often assume the traditional nuclear family with the patriarchal family as the norm, this creates a self-fulfilling prophecy, disadvantaging women and maintaining their subordination
> e.g. Maternity leave longer than paternity, reinforces women’s responsibility for childcare therefore subordinating women to the domestic role
Feminists view on Areas of Policy supporting Nuclear Families
> Tax & Benefit Policy
> Childcare & Care for OAP
Tax & Benefit Policy - Feminists view on Areas of Policy supporting Nuclear Families
> Assume men are breadwinners with women as dependent, so can’t have social security benefits, as men are expected to provide.
Childcare & Care for OAP - Feminists view on Areas of Policy supporting Nuclear Families
> Women do the school run, so it is hard for women to work full time with expensive childcare, the gov still assumes family cares for older family members
> Women are therefore forced to be financially dependent on men
Leonard’s (Feminist view on State Policies)
> Child benefits given to women, gives separate income reinforces childcare responsibility
> Child benefits are low anyway, so they are still dependent on men
Evaluation of Feminist View on Policies
> Not all policies maintain patriarchy e.g.
> Equal Pay & Sex Discrimination
Rape in marriage Criminalised
Drew’s (2 Gender Regimes)
> Familistic Gender Regimes
> Individualistic Gender Regimes
Differences between familistic gender regimes and individualistic gender regimes
> Familistic - Policies assume traditional division of labour with male breadwinner & female housewife e.g. Greece no childcare so women do the traditional role
> individualistic - See men and women as equal and both responsible for breadwinning/domestic tasks e.g. Sweden have Childcare so women can work
Drew’s (Gender Regimes in EU)
> EU move towards individualistic gender regimes promoting gender equality
> Global recession in 2008 & cutbacks on spending, so increased pressure on women to stay in traditional role
Trends towards Neo-Liberal Welfare policies (State vs. Market)
> Individuals encouraged to use market, not state to meet needs
e.g. private pension provision & care for old
