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)
What is the Bedroom Tax?
+ why is this a problem for people?
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
