Key family policies of the conservative government 1979-1997

Question 1

1986 married couples tax allowance

Answer 1

A tax incentive to encourage marriage and discourage cohabitation - married couples would gain tax relief

Question 2

1988 benefit cuts

Answer 2

-Benefits were withdrawn from 16-18 year olds who did not take place on training schemes, forcing families to take responsibility for maintaining unemployed teenagers.
-Single parent benefits were cut in an attempt to discourage alternative family structures

Question 3

1993 child support agency

Answer 3

-This was set up in attempt to force absent fathers to pay maintenance for their children.
-It was designed to discourage people from having children outside of marriage or fathers from leaving the family household.

Question 4

Privatising care for the elderly

Answer 4

This put poorer families in a position of responsibility for elderly relatives - this meant that women were often the main careers restricting them from employment opportunities and reinforcing traditional gender roles.

Question 5

Refusal to introduce free/reduced cost childcare

Answer 5

This reinforced the idea that they favoured traditional gender roles, with men going to work and women staying at home to look after children.