Policy and family Flashcards
Functionalist perspective on family policy
-Parsons, advocated reinforcing the nuclear family through social policies, e.g, tax incentives for married people
-Limited state involvement in the running of the family
-Traditional values= opposite to some of the more progressive policies of recent years- e.g, same sex marriage
Marxist perspectives on family policy
-Critical of role of state creating social policy- designed to serve the needs of the elite in society
-State can effectively ‘police the family’ according to Donzelot by intervening where they believe the family is not socialising children correctly
-State policy= based upon ruling class ideologies + those that don’t conform= face sanctions
Feminist perspectives on family policy
-State reinforces patriarchal control through introducing policies that are aimed at women in the role of primary carer- e.g, child benefit paid to mothers
-Liberal feminists= state policy can be used to change the role of women in society- e.g, Equal Pay, Divorce + Abortion
-Helped women in need when leaving violent partners + provided support through benefits to tackle child poverty
Conservative family policies 1979-1997
-Child Support Agency 1993= ensure absent fathers paid maintenance for the upbringing of their children
-Section 28 (1988)= prevented local government from ‘promoting’ homosexuality + schools couldn’t teach about it
-Back to basics- Major= promoted traditional family values
New Labour family policies 1997-2010
-Paid paternity leave
-Adoption + Children’s Act (2002)
-Equal age of consent for same sex relationships
-Sure Start + Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA)
Coalition policies (2010-15)
-Shared parental leave= partner could split maternity leave allowance to help bond with child + allow women to go back to work
-Same sex marriages (2013)
-Benefit caps, 2 child limit for benefits + bedroom tax= impacted low-wage + lone-parent families
Conservative policies 2015
-Universal credit
-Closure of Sure Start
-Further cuts to benefits cap to £23,000 per annum
Increased cohabitation + delayed marriage- Impacts on family structures
-Career aspirations of women mean marriage= delayed as women are focused on careers
-Availability of contraception + legislation of abortion means couples can delay having children
-Greater geographical movement means people often work apart or decide to travel before settling down
Increased divorce- Impacts on family structures
-Divorce reform= lead to increase in breakdown of family unit leading to more lone-parent families, lone-person households + more reconstituted families
-Creation of welfare state meant resident parents could get greater financial support from state looking after children- sing parent, benefits etc
Same-sex families- Impacts on family structures
-Decriminalisation of homosexuality, introduction of civil partnerships + same-sex marriage have changed family structures
-Changes to legislation to adoption and IVF treatment have led to an increase in same-sex families
Lone-parents families- Impacts on family structures
-Welfare state provides protections for lone-parent families- this has led to accusations of ‘welfare dependency’
-Availability of IVF treatment and lone-parent adoption means women can choose to parent alone
-Creation of Child Support Agency to chase down non-resident parents
Maternity and paternity leave- impact on gender roles
-9 months paid maternity leave reinforces traditional role of female as primary care giver
-Introduction of shared paternity leave acknowledges the role of father in a child’s life + allows parents to split parental leave
-Both partners can have up to 13 weeks off in first 5 years of their child’s life for caring responsibilities- emphasis on shared responsibility
Increased divorce and negotiated family- impact on gender roles
-Ease of divorce can have indirect impacts on the gender relationships between partners
-Gender roles need to be more equal within negotiated family- so men more likely to be involved in domestic labour + childcare
-Women are expected to pursue a career to contribute to family income
Availability of childcare- impact on gender roles
-Opportunities such as 30 hour free childcare for children over 3 and working tax credits to help pay for after-school + breakfast clubs removes social expectation of women to stop working
-Men involved in picking up + dropping off of children to childcare setting
-Sure Start centres provided Dad + Baby clubs to help men bond more with their children
Increased career opportunities- impact on gender roles
-Gender roles have become more equal as a result of women’s employment- Equal Pay Act + Sex Discrimination Act
-Equality Act states people cannot be discriminated against on grounds of family, pregnancy or gender- allowing women to have higher career aspirations
Children dependent on adults for longer- impacts on childhood
-Cuts to student grants + introduction of tuition fees= more students attending local universities
-Zero-hour contracts= increased volume of boomerang kids
-Extension of compulsory schooling= children reliant on parent’s finance for longer
Society becoming child-centred- impacts on childhood
-Children’s Act
-Contraception + abortion
-Children as economic burdens
-Marketisation of education= importance of parental involvement in education for children to get ahead
Childhood experiences- impact on childhood
-Social class= W/C + lone-parent children, such as universal credit, bedroom tax + free school meals
-Gender= privatisation policies impacted future career prospects for men in traditionally masculine jobs
-Different family types= e.g, some children having 2 parents of the same sex
