Social Policy Flashcards
What are some examples of policies?
Welfare State (1940), ‘cradle to the grave’, NHS, education, benefits.
- Divorce Reform Act 1969
- Compulsory Schooling 1870
- Abortion Act 1967
- Welfare Reform and Work Act, Labour cutting PIP/benefits (2016 and 2025)
- Equal Pay Act
- Child Support Agency
- Adoption and Children Act
- Gay Marriage
What is a Social Policy?
A plan or action of state agencies, providing a framework for agencies to operate within.
What is China’s one-child policy?
Only allowed to have one child: if you comply you get extra benefits e.g free child healthcare.
If you do not, you will be fined. Women face pressure to have their tubes tied after having their first child.
What does Romania’s policy about the family/childbirth?
To drive up the birth rate, they restrict contraception and abortion, lower the age of marriage, and unmarried adults and childless couples pay more tax.
What is Nazi family policy?
‘Racially pure’, kept women in their ‘biologically role’. Sterilised those who had physical malformations or neurological disabilities so they could not procreate.
Lebensborn.
What do Functionalists believe about social policy?
Policy acts in the interests of society, helping the family to perform its functions effectively.
Fletcher = introduction of NHS and housing policies has helped parents take better care of children, ‘march of progress’.
What does Donzelot suggest about policing the family?
Policy is a form of state power and control over families, as professionals (doctors, social workers etc) carry out surveillance on families and use their knowledge to control and change families.
WC more likely to be targeted due to crime/anti-social behaviour.
What do the New Right say about social policy?
Social policies, like abortion, are a threat to the family and society as they undermine the nuclear family, creating a culture of dependency and perverse incentives, rewarding irresponsible behaviour by giving council houses e.g single mums and deadbeat fathers. Threatens socialisation of men and maintaining workforce.
What solutions do the New Right offer to improve the family?
Restrict benefits, deny council housing to unmarried mothers, create policies that benefit the nuclear family, child support agencies to chase absent fathers.
However, cutting benefits = further into poverty, blames victim, etc.
What influence has the Conservative Government (1979-97) had over social policy?
Thatcher = banned the promotion of homosexuality and teaching of it as an acceptable family type, and defined divorce as a social problem.
What did the New Labour Government (1997-2010) say about social policy?
The heterosexual, nuclear family is the foundation of society, but also encouraged the neo-conventional family where women work: longer maternity leave, tax relief on childcare costs, etc.
- Support alternatives to the nuclear family, like same sex marriage and civil partnerships.
However, new right = labour intervened too much in family life, so individual responsibility was taken away.
What did the Coalition Government (2010-15) say about social policy?
Conservatives are made up of traditionalists, so their policy on family is inconsistent.
- Introduced gay marriage
- Troubled families programme
- Tackled adult content on the internet
(see education)
However, women were hit the hardest e.g child benefits
What do Feminists say about social policy?
Land = social policy makes assumptions about what the ‘normal’ family is, and the effect of policies often reinforces the nuclear family, leading to a self-fulfilling prophecy of nuclear families being the norm.
Which policies do Feminists say support the patriarchal nuclear family?
Tax and benefits policy = women cannot claim these, as it is assumed that the man will provide.
Childcare = school holidays make it hard for women, maternity leave assumes that the mother will take on the expressive role, so inadequate pre-school care.
Care for the sick/elderly = middle-aged women are expected to do the caring for their families, once again fulfilling the expressive role.
