Social Policy Flashcards
What is Social Policy?
+ what are direct and indirect policies?
the study of the causes of social problems and what governments attempt to do about them, usually in the form of legislation/laws
+ D= laws explicitly linked to roles and relationships in the family
+ I= not intentionally designed to impact families but can
Brief Timeline of UK family social policy
1885- Age of consent raised from 12 to 16
1945- child benefit introduced & paid to mothers
1969- Divorce Reform Act
1974- Contraception & family planning advice free on NHS
1989- Children’s Act
2014- Same-sex couples can get married
2015- Shared parental leave
2019- Abortion legalised in NI
2022- Divorce, Dissolution & Separation Act
Marriage & CP age raised to 18
How was China’s One Child Policy managed?
+ why was it introduced?
(why was it abandoned/problems China now faces?)
- supervised by workplace family planning committees
- couples who complied got extra benefits
- women faced pressure to become sterile after first child
- house destroyed if you got an abortion
- fined for having another child
+ to combat rising population and strain on the economy
(dependency ratio increasing & birth rate now falling as there are less females than males)
Free School Meals statistics?
+ who introduced them & who campaigned for them?
700,000 secondary school kids entitled but 20% don’t claim due to stigma
+ 2010- Conservatives-Lib Dems implemented FSM for anyone under 7 to encourage more people to sign on
+ Marcus Rashford campaigned for FSM to be provided during the school holidays & was successful
How have laws on abortion worldwide changed in the recent years?
+ what does this tell us about global attitudes?
Made legal in NI in 2019 but in 2022 the USA made the law much stricter, banning it in 14 states in all but exceptional circumstances
+ they are politically different and heavily influenced by religious views
How has childcare policy changed in the UK?
+ what does this tell us about changing attitudes?
- right to shared parental leave
- 15hrs free childcare per week for 2 year olds & 30hrs for 3 & 4 year olds
- 30 hours free childcare from 9 months if both parents are working
+ child-rearing is seen as more of a dual-gender role
What do Functionalists believe about family social policy?
+ criticism of this view?
- NHS allows family to better take care of it’s sick members
- welfare state policies help the family perform its functions better
+ assumes all members benefit equally
+ assumes “March of progress”
What is Donzelot’s view (Marxist) on family social policy?
+ criticism of this?
- family is policed through surveillance
- social policy is a form of state control over the family
- poor families are seen as ‘problematic’
- social workers use their power and knowledge over others
- capitalist class benefit most
+ policies in place to safeguard children
What do the New Right believe about family social policy?
+ criticisms of this view?
- policies are undermining traditional nuclear family
- welfare benefits create “perverse incentives”
- socialisation of young and maintenance of work ethic in men are very important
+ attempt to justify a return to traditionally patriarchal family (Fem)
+ assumes nuclear family is best and natural
What do Feminists believe about family social policy?
+ criticisms of this view?
Policies make women more economically dependent on men & favour traditional nuclear family:
- tax benefits assume husband is main earner
- child-care very expensive
- lack of state-funded care for elderly
- maternity leave more generous than paternity leave
+ not all policies are maintaining patriarchy e.g equal pay & lone parent benefits
+ shared parental leave & more free childcare exists
What does Harding believe about family social policy?
+ criticism for each of her points
It favours traditions nuclear family:
1) council houses tend to be built to accommodate nuclear rather than extended families
+ small number are extended, more need for SP households & elderly friendly households
2) married women only receive invalidity benefit is they can prove they are physically unable from doing housework- men don’t
+ doesn’t exist anymore
3) maternity leaves rules reinforce traditional gender roles
+ shared parental leave
Key family policies of the Conservative government if 1979-97?
+ criticisms of this?
- Child Support Agency
- defined divorce as a social problem
- banned promotion of homosexuality
- Children’s Act
- made rape within marriage illegal
+ presume father is the breadwinner
+ why is homosexuality inferior?
What is the Child Support Agency & when was it introduced?
+ what view of parenthood is implied by this?
- government agency set up in 1993 to ensure absent parents contributed financially to their children’s maintenance.
- benefit deducted if woman refused to reveal the identity or whereabouts of the father
- since changed to CMS which encourages parents to sort out payments themselves
+ assumes father is merely a breadwinner
+ assumes the father is absent
+ blaming women who may be victims
Key family policies of the New Labour government (1997-2010)?
+ criticisms of this?
- Parenting Orders
- favoured dual earner through longer maternity leave & New Deal
- aimed to redistribute income to poor w higher benefits
- set up Civil Partnerships
- Child Trust Fund
- tax credits to help low income parents
+ didn’t do enough to make a difference
What were the Parenting Orders introduced by New Labour?
+ what does this imply about the relationship between family & crime?
Support and guidance to improve the parenting of those whose children were U-17 and persistently truant or offending
- fined up to 1000 if didn’t comply or given a community sentence
+ implies child’s actions are the fault of the parent when it may be the result of other factors such as poverty or social groups
Key family policies from Coalition government (2010-2015)?
+ criticism of this?
- legalised gay marriage
- Free School Meals
- “Troubled families” scheme
- bedroom tax
- universal credit
- expanded free childcare
+ contradicting themselves as they had differing views from within the party
+ giving and taking away via austerity
What is the Bedroom Tax?
+ why is this a problem for people?
(which perspectives would approve and criticise this?)
tenants in public housing with rooms deemed ‘spare’ experience a reduction in Housing Benefit
+ are forced to pay more of rent from their own income
+ no choice as no smaller houses available
(approve=New Right & criticise=Marxist)
What is Universal Credit?
+ what problems can this cause for some?
- child tax, housing & unemployment covered
- must earn less than 16,000 to claim
- 6 week delay
+ “Benefit Trap”
+ child benefit limited to 2 children
What are the two types of gender regime according to Drew & examples of them in place?
+ criticisms of this?
Familistic: traditional gender division w male breadwinner
E.g Greece (little state welfare)
Individualistic: treatment of husbands and wives equally
E.g Sweden (equal opportunity policies and parental leave)
+ public funded policies are expensive and cause conflict
+ we are now more individualistic
How did Covid impact social policy and the family?
+ long term effects of this (& criticism?)
- lockdown
- rise in domestic violence
- privatisation
- schools closed
- no secondary socialisation
- digital divide
- childcare & prevented from doing work
+ class divide
+ increase in divorce
+ decrease in birth rate
(Short lived policies)
