Family policy

Question 1

Functionalist views on government policy

Answer 1

Fletcher :
Maintains social order by ensuring stability and the wellbeing of individual people and their families
Financial benefits eg child benefits ensure all children have the essential resources eg maternity pay
Free healthcare via NHS ensures family life can continue as normal eg care for the elderly + support to new mothers and vaccination services
Free and compulsory education provides children with secondary education until 18

Question 2

Evaluation of functionalism

Answer 2

Ignores patriarchy in policy eg women get longer maternity leave
Marxists : Not all policies benefit families equally eg some governments have taken an approach of austerity.

Question 3

Feminist views on policy

Answer 3

Land : Government policies reinforce patriarchy
policies encourage a SFP and promote the view that women should be the caregivers which most go on to do and should be in subordinate positions to men
Examples of patriarchal policies :
- Longer maternity leave for women
- Married women aren’t entitled to benefits if they lose a job
- School system makes it hard for women to find compatible employment with childcare
- Elderly people aren’t entitled to state care and women then have to step in and become the pivot generation

Drew : Countries take different gender regimes (general attitude posses by society towards gender roles)
Some countries take an individualistic approach eg Sweden
Other countries eg Greece have a familistic gender regime where family life is the sole responsibility of the woman
Individual families make the choice

Question 4

Evaluation of feminism

Answer 4

It ignores the policies which have challenged patriarchy eg equal pay and educational equality
Policies are not solely patriarchal
It ignores that some women do still want traditional roles in the family so policies like maternity leave enable this

Question 5

Surveillance theory

Answer 5

Donzelot : People are observed and monitored by the government
Policies are used to to watch , monitor and control families through formal and informal control in order to create policies which will prevent behaviour the state disproves of
For example :
- Parenting orders are used to punish parents who were failing to discipline their children
- Compulsory education and schools enforce dress codes and when they must be in school, they can then go to services like the police and social services if this isn’t carried out
- health visitors eg since 2015 health visitors have had a mandatory visit to monitor a baby’s development (a form of policing mothers)

Question 6

Surveillance theory evaluation

Answer 6

Some surveillance is necessary as some families do fail to adequalty provide for their children
Marxists argue that it fails to explain where the power of surveillance comes from eg it is used by the rich to control the poor

Question 7

The New Right

Answer 7

Murray : Policies undermine family tradition

1. Divorce reform 1969 results in more families breaking down and more single parent families who have poor moral codes
2. Same sex marriage is inadequate due to an imbalance of gender role models
3. State welfare has encouraged people to be dependent on the state and this attitude then passes on to their children

Changes proposed :
State welfare needs to be significantly reduced + only provided to those with genuine needs
Removal of council housing as young women use it as a perverse incentive to get pregnant
Tax cuts for married couples to act as a financial incentive to get married

Question 8

Evaluation of the New Right

Answer 8

Their stance reinforces patriarchy values eg that the woman must be married before children and the father must be the breadwinner
They ignore policies which do maintain traditional values eg women get longer paternity leave
Their views of benefit claimants are inaccurate the ,majority of those on benefits also are in paid employment

Question 9

What is social policy ?

Answer 9

Official documents often written in to law which are developed by the government to manage societal issues and to help society adapt to change

Question 10

How do policies impact family life ?

Answer 10

Changes to contraception and abortion 1967 - family planning
Changes to the divorce law 1969
Changes to the adoption law 2002 - allowed non-married couples, single people, and same sex couples could adopt children
Changes to marital law 2014 - SSC could marry

Governments in China have limited it to 1 child per family and in Romania there was limited access to contraception