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F&H sociology > Policy > Flashcards

Policy Flashcards

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Sociology 101 flashcards
1
Q

List the key social (reform) policies from 60s/70s

A
  • 1967 Abortion Act
  • 1967 Sexual Offenses Act
  • 1969 Divorce Reform Act
  • 1970 Equal Pay Act
  • 1975 Sex Discrimination Act
  • (not through policy) availability of contraceptive pill - 1961 through NHS to married women
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2
Q

What did the 1967 Abortion Act do?

A

Legalised abortion in the UK & made it available through the NHS.

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3
Q

What did the 1967 Sexual Offenses Act do?

A

PARTIALLY decriminalised male homosexuality, the age of consent was set at 21.

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4
Q

What did the 1969 Divorce Reform Act do?

A

Reduced the previously high cost of divorce & made the legal process much simpler - ‘irretrievable breakdown’ clause

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5
Q

What did the 1970 Equal Pay Act do?

A

Made it illegal for employers to pay women less than their male colleagues in the same jobs - ‘encouraged’ women, esp mothers, to enter the workforce in large numbers

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6
Q

What did the 1975 Sex Discrimination Act do?

A

Made it illegal for employers to not hire women on the basis of their gender

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7
Q

List the key policies introduced under the 1979-97 Conservative governments (Thatcher & Major)

A
  • The Children Act 1989
  • The Child Support Agency 1993
  • Section 28 (1988)
  • Proposed changed to divorce rules (80s)
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8
Q

What did The Children Act 1989 do?

A
  • legislation which clearly outlines the rights of children & safeguarded them from harm
  • major emphasis was put on the role of the family & less on local services
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9
Q

What did The Child Support Agency 1993 do?

A
  • established to ensure absent fathers paid maintenance for the upbringing of their children
  • This included chasing down fathers which lost contact
  • Meant money to support lone parents came from within the family rather than the state
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10
Q

What did Section 28 (1988) do?

A
  • prevented local gov’s from promoting homosexuality
  • stopped schools from teaching about it & ‘the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretend family relationship’
  • Example of how the gov went beyond promoting n family to actually attack alt structures
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11
Q

What were the proposed changes to divorce rules in the 80s?

A
  • desire to make divorce more difficult
  • moral panic took hold over too many marriages ending in divorce
  • The plan was the enforce a ‘cooling off’ period between separation & divorce
  • plans not put into practice due to the impracticality of enforcing it & opposition to the idea
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12
Q

List the key policies introduced by the 1997-10 New Labour government (Blair & Brown)

A
  • Child Tax Credit Policy (2001)
  • Adoption & Children’s Act (2002)
  • Paid Paternity Leave (2003)
  • Civil Partnership Act (2005)
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13
Q

What did the Child Tax Credit Policy (2001) do?

A
  • depending on the number of children you have, it reduced the amount of tax you paid slightly
  • paid to the main carer - mother
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14
Q

How did Morgan criticise the Child Tax Credit Policy (2001)?

A
  • argues that the gov’s family policy undermined both marriage & the traditional family
  • This is because it’s biased towards single parents, dual-career families & gay couples
  • all at the expense of single-earner, two parents n families
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15
Q

What did the Adoption & Children’s Act (2002) do?

A
  • allowed gay people (single, couples, unmarried) to adopt children
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16
Q

What other major advances in gay rights were achieved under New Labour?

A
  • repeal of section 28

* equal age of consent (2001)

17
Q

What did the new paid paternity leave policy (2003) d0?

A
  • allowed men TWO WEEKS paid paternity leave

- this encouraged women in the workplace & a more equal distribution of domestic labour (childcare)

18
Q

What did the Civil Partnership Act (2005) do?

A
  • allowed same-sex relationships to be legally recognised on the same terms as marriage
  • these were effectively marriage in all but the same
19
Q

List the socially conservative policies introduced under the modern conservative gov (Cameron - coalition, May, Johnson)

A
  • removal of the so-called couples’ penalty
  • Troubled Families Programme (2012)
  • The proposed Dementia Tax (2016-17)
  • child tax credits restriction (2017)
  • REMOVAL Free School Meals (2020)
20
Q

What did the removal of the so-called couples’ penalty do?

A
  • removed the means test which usually resulted in couples gaining fewer benefits from when they were single (the couples joint income was means-tested)
  • Cameron did this so the benefits system did not include a perverse incentive for couples to break up in order to receive more benefits
21
Q

What did the Troubled Families Programme (2012) do?

A
  • Following the LDN riots (2011), many tories were worried about broke families & the quality of family life
  • Coalition introduced the TFP which identified 120,000 households who:
  • were involved in crime/antisocial behaviour
  • children who truanted from school
  • had parents in long term unemployment
  • the programme aimed to get parents back into work & children back into education
22
Q

What was the proposed Dementia tax in 2016-17?

A
  • Theresa May
  • forced elderly people who have assets (money & housing) worth over £100,000 to pay for any social care they received as they got older
  • previously, unless you had more than £23,000 in your bank, you would be entitled to free social care from the council
23
Q

What change was made to Child Tax Credits under the coalition gov?

A
  • Child tax credits are only available for 2 children (& the equivalent for those on universal credit)
  • Some suggest this is designed to change the behaviour & discourage people on low incomes from having a larger family
  • Clearly a cost-saving measure as well
24
Q

What change was attempted by Boris Johnson to Free School Meals (2020)?

A
  • During the COVID-19 pandemic, cost-saving measures were necessary
  • it was proposed that remove free school meals however, this faced an sg amount of backlash (Rashford)
  • the gov did a U-turn and continued free schools meals especially during the harsh times of the pandemic
25
Q

List the socially liberal policies passed under the modern conservative government? (Cameron, May, Johnson)

A
  • Equal Marriage Act (2013/14)
  • Shared parental leave
  • Married Couple’s tax allowance
  • FSC
26
Q

What did the Equal Marriage Act (2013/14) do?

A
  • legalised gay marriage
  • allowed to marry in religious ceremonies, where the religious organisation has ‘opted in’ to conduct such ceremonies and the minister of religion agrees
  • clear support from tories & liberals although much opposition from traditionalists & religious organisations
27
Q

What did the shared parental leave policy do?

A
  • made parental leave for mother & father equal
  • both parents could take off equal amounts of time, men not restricted just to 2 weeks

(statistics show few men actually use this to go over the 2 weeks)

28
Q

What did the Married Couple’s Tax allowance do?

A
  • brought back a tax allowance whereby only one member of a married couple pays tax
  • applies to all married couples (regardless of gender or sexual orientation) & civil partnerships
  • Doesn’t matter which member of the marriage is the ‘breadwinner’/homemaker

This shows that this isn’t a return to old fashioned values, although at first, it may seem like it.

29
Q

How can the policy of Free School Meals be seen as socially liberal?

A
  • Although Boris tried to take it away, pressure from the public & influential figures (Rashford) caused them to continue providing FSM
  • This is socially liberal as it’s supporting families & fulfilling (as Functionalists would assert) one of the families functions

F&H sociology (5 decks)

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