Family Policy Flashcards
Increased Cohabitation & Delayed Marriage
female career aspirs - delay mar - EPA & SDA
inc repro rights - can delay/ X children -National Health Service Act (1967) - contra on NHS & Abortion Act (1967)
enables greater lifestyle choice & geo movement w/ m couples working apart/ travelling internat b4 starting fam
Increased Divorce
inc breakdown of trad fam unit & m LP fams, LP HHs & m reconstituted fams Div Ref Act (1968) Div Dis & Sep Act (2020)
linked to women’s econ indepen
Beveridge Report (1942) creation of welfare state meant resident parent = m able to leave unhappy relas w/ greater fin sup to look after children
Lone Parent Families
a consequence of inc div - 1 in 4 dependent children live in lone parent fam = 3x 1971
child support agency locates non resident parent if not paying child maintenance
adoption act (1976) gave single hetero indus the right to adopt
Same Sex Couples
one of m sig fam struc changes as a result of change to legis & social policy - grown by 50% since 2015
Equal Mar Act (2013) Civil Partnership Act (2004)
Sexual Offences Act (1967) - decrim homosex
Adoption & Children Act (2002) legis of adoption & IVF for s-s fams 2023 20% of adopts = s-s couples
section 28
Conservative Policies 1979-97
Thatcher & Major
influ by NR - focus = strengthening nuclear fam, sturc & roles emph self help & reliance by red welfare
child sup agency (1993) children’s act I (1989) - child protection
mar men’s tax allowance
section 28 - banned teaching of homo in edu
illegit children given same rights as those w/ mar parents
New Labour Policies 1997-2010
Blair & Brown - still under influ of NR = m progres - fav duel earning fams over trad roles - some sup to alt fams but pref hetero nuc fam
parenting order for those w/ unruly kids
longer mat leave
allowed unmarried & some s-s adopt
civil partnership act
Coalition Government Policies 2010-15
Clegg & Cameron v inconsistent due to conflict between
modernists - acceptance of fam diversity trads - fav nuc fam
removed couples penalty from tax credits
introed shared parental leave
equal mar act
Conservative Policies 2016-24
May, Johnson, Truss & Sunak
m concerned w/ brexit - but did return to NR focus
reintroed mar couples tax allowance
2 child cap on tax credits
civil parntership for hetero couples
China’s One Child Policy
late 1970s pop = 1 bil - introed to manage & num of children = supervised by workplace fam coms
if want m than 1 child have to apply - long wait
1 got extra bens - free healthcare, edu priority & higher tax allowances - if violated have to repay allowances & fine
Effect of China’s One Child Policy
women forced sterilisation after 1 child
2007 only 36% pop = limited to 1 Jan 2016 policy = 2 2021 = 3
prev 400 mil births 4% m men = gender skew - fewer women of child bearing age = red birthrates & mar rates
ageing pop - no children to sup - if child died- underbal working pop to sup through state services
inc num of undoc children no rights w/in soc - can’t leave/access edu
Communist Romania
to inc pop & future lab force in 1980s soc pols banned contra & restricted abortion, = fertility clinics & m stringent div laws
compul monthly exams by state Drs - failed pregs investi
dec mar age to 15 & unmar couples paid 5% extra income tax - sup nuc fam
Nazi Family Policy
low birth rate 1933 - needed w’s & s’s - emph nuc fam & trad GRs
Law for Encour of Mar (1933) = £ incens - mar couples could get loans & repayments dec 25% for each child
rewards for lots of children - mothers cross
Law for prev of unemploy = £ incens for women to stay at home
Functionalist Perspective on Social Policy
state acts in interest of soc pols = for good of all
help fams to perform roles w/in fam m effectively to make life better for all mems - MofP view
= nec to address & fix probs related to fam dsyfunc - DV/ inc div - fav ones which reinforce nuc fam as superior
Fletcher
health edu & housing pols have created welfare state - helps fam perform funcs m effect - NHS allows to care for sick mems better
Functionalism Criticisms
fems & m’s argue not all fam mems ben from pols
view assumes MofP - everything = getting better - M’s = X
Jaques Donzelot (1977)
conflict pov - soc pol = state control & power
applies to fam - pros surveil & police fam - soc w’s, Drs & health visitors use knowledge to control & change fams
not targeted at all soc classes equally - poor targeted for improvement = prob fams - cause of crime & anti soc behav
Condry (2007)
courts can regulate fam life by imposing parenting orders - p’s get punished & = forced to go to p classes to learn how to = good parent - takes focus of wider probs in soc - econ equal
Donzelot & March of Progress
rejects func view of soc pol as it is oppressing certain fam types
by focussing on micro level of how caring pros = agents of soc control through sur of fams shows NBance of pros knowledge as form of power & control
New Right & Social Policy
main concern = fams = self reliant - nuc fam = only option - pols shouln’t undermine
want cuts in welfare & bens lower taxes & pols to encourage nuclear fams - remove depen cul
state shouldn’t interfere w/ fams - makes reliant
Charles Murray (1984)
Social Policy
crit state welfare - council housing for unmarried teenage mums - bens to LP fams - undermines nuclear fam - encours dsyfunc fam strucs
want pols to encour nuc fam - tax breaks
Criticisms of New Right Social Policy Stance
Abbott & Wallace - will only make poor poorer - not help for social mobility - reinforces cap
fems - child ben favs women working part time - not enough funding for full hours of childcare - edu pols - holidays also encour part time work
Hilary Land (1978)
soc pols = SFP that try to:
1. return to patri nuc fams by perpet female subord - state pols - tax incentives make fam diversity harder
2. reinforce trad GRs
3. double burden - care & fin contrib
Feminist View of Social Policy
Pols sup patri fam
tax & bens pols assume husbands = main wage earner
childcare fundingg X enough to permit women to work full time
gov pols assume fam care for sick & elderly - usually middle aged women
Evaluation of Feminist View
MofP pol can bring about gender equality - help escape DV & bens tackle child pov
but despite equal pay act still sexism - only 23% exec pos, 29% senior management roles & median pay gap = 15%
Gender Regimes
Drew (1995)
familistic GRs - pols based on trad gen division of lab eg Greece - little welfare/state funded childcare
Indu GRs - pols based on gen equal eg Sweden equal op pols relfect view both partners = equal responsibility for paid work, chores & childcare
State Vs Market
pols eg pub funded childcare cost a lot & this raises issues about who should ben/pay
cuts to pub spending due to recession mean women bear burden of caring for fam mems
trend to neo-lib pols - ppl use market X state for pensions elderly care etc
