social policy affecting family and households Flashcards
What was china’s one child policy?
- women must seek permission to try and become pregnant
- those who comply and only have one child gained benefits
How did the one child policy affect family and households?
- more beanpole families as without siblings cannot extend horizontally
- lonely childhoo
- pressures to succeed rom family as is an only child
Describe the situation in Communist Romanian policy
Policy to increase the population after it had been falling
* Restricted contraception
* abortion restricted
* lowered legal marriage to 15
describe Nazi Family Policy
1930s a two fold policy of a ‘racially pure’ aryan race Hitler wanted to create - restricted abortion
- official policy sought women to be in kitchen clean and children
- state compulsively sterilised 300k people deemed unfit to breed
Outline the functionalist view on family policy
structural diffrentiation allowed for the family to concentrate on socialisation
* so they view social policy as good for helping all inthe family to perform the functions need efficiently
What is Fletcher (functionalist) view on the family?
That the introduction of healthcare/education and housing policies in years post industrial revolution has lead to a **welare state **
- he argues this is positive as it helps to support everyone in being able to do its function
E.g NHS in 1948 - allows family to be better taken care of
Evaluation of functionalist views on the family
- assumes all family benefit equally - feminists would argue policies benefit men at the expense of women
- Assumes their is a march of progress - Marxist argue polict reverse progress ie welfare state being cut
What does Donzelot argue about family policy?
Using Foucault theory of surveillance he argues that professional such as DRs use their knowledge to control and change families
* ‘policing of families’
Does donzelot believe this policing happens equally to everyone ?
No he argues that lower classes are targeted
* due to the fact that they are more likely to to be seen as an issue use to crime so are seen s a target for ‘imporvement’
How does Donzelot differ from the functionalists view on social policy?
Rather than the professionals doing it for the better s functionalists will argue he views it as a form of state control
Condry supporting study to Donzelot
Notes that the state may seek to control the family by imposing Parent orders through courts, parents of young offenders are obliged to parent classes to learn the correct way
Outline the new right (NR) general view on social policy
Since they favour the conventional nuclear family based on marriage they view that a lot of social policy undermines the nuclear family
* cohabitation \lone-parent\same sex all cause social issues such as a dependency culture
What does Almond NR rogue about social policy?
Laws undermine the traditional nuclear family
* Laws make divorce easier - 2020 dissolution act (reduces the idea of commitment)
* introduction of civil partnership - 2014 gay marriage - sends out message state doesn’t view heterosexuality as superior
* Tax laws - discriminate against conventional families with instrumental role unable to transfer tax allowance to non-working so have to pay more than dual earners
What does Murray argue about the welfare policy in particular?
View state as to ‘generous’ creating a dependency culture → council housing for unmarried teenage mothers=, undermines the conventional traditional family encouraging dysfunctional family types.
Argues welfare benefit offer ‘perverse incentives’:
* If Fathers see that the state will maintain their children they may leave
* Providing council housing for unmarried teenage mothers encourage young girls to become pregnant
* Growth of lone parent encouraged by welfare benefits
What do the new right belive current family policies are creating and how is this affecting family life?
believe current policies are encouraging a dependency culture, where individuals come to depend on the state to support them - this threatens family roles of :
- Socialisation of the young
- Maintenance of the work ethic among men
What is the new right solution
They argue policy should be changed, with cuts in welfare spending and tighter restrictions on eligibility → argue this would mean taxes reduces/ fathers incentive to work for family
evaluation of new right view on social policy
- Feminists argue that it is an attempt to justify a return to the traditional patriarchal nuclear family that subordinated women to men and confined them to a domestic role.
- Wrongly assumes patriarchal nuclear family is natural rather than socially constructed
- Abbott and Wallace - argue cutting benefits would drive poor families to greater poverty making them even more less self reliant
- The new right ignore the many policies that support and maintain the nuclear family rather tha
New right influence on social policy 1979-1997 - Conservative view (does it mirror NR thinking?)
Reflect the new right view Thatcher
- banned promotion of homosexuality by local authorities (including banning teaching that
homosexuality was a valid family structure) - defined divorce as a social problem - emphasising the responsibility of parents for childcare after divorce
- Set up The child support agency - maintenance payments for absent parents
How did thatcher’s 1979-1997 policies oppose new right ?
Also enforced making divorce easier and giving ‘illegitimate children’ rights as those born to married parents
How was new labour Government 1997-2010 reflect NR views in policy?
Took the view that the family is bedrock of society - dual roles needed for socialisation of children
* emphasised the need for parents to take responsibility of children
* introduced parenting orders for parents of young offenders
What do Silver and Smart argue about the viewpoints of New labour and the New right
new labour rejects the new right view in the sense that they recognise that women go out to work too.
How do new labour policies go against NR thinking - as argued by chester ?
new labour policies favour the dual earner neo-conventional (CHESTER ) families
- Longer maternity leave - leave for both parents - easier for the dual earner role
working families tax credit - able to claim tax relief on childcare cost - the new deal - helping lone parents to return to work
Policies reflect a further difference with the new right who oppose state intervention
The coalition government 2010-2015 what two people had society been split between as argued by Hayton ?
Modernisers - recognise diversity and reflect in policy / Traditionalist - favour new right / reject d
What do feminists mean when they say policy acts as a SFP - Land?
LAND argues social policy assumes the ideal family is that of the nuclear
- This norm is affecting the policies > reinforcing the type of family structure at the expense of others creating a SFP.
E.g tax based on marriage offering incentives - excludes those cohabitating (discourages it)
Therefore,policy makes it difficult for individuals to be able to live in alternative family structures than this assumed ‘nuclear’
How to feminists argue that policy supports the patriarchal family? (3 ways) - state them
- tax benefitting policies
- childcare
- care for sick and elderly
what do feminists mean by tax benefitting policies?
assume husbands are instrumental roles and wives financial dependents - make it impossible for women to claim social security benefit in their own right.
**Reinforces women dependence on husbands **
What do feminists mean by childcare policies support patriarchal nuclear family?
govt pays for some childcare for pre-school but this does not allow parents to work full time to meet additional costs of life.
** - women often restricted and made to have part time jobs so are forced in this financial reliance upon the male**
How do feminists argue that care for sick and elderly polciies reinforce the patriarchal nuclear amily
often assume family life will provide this care - so women are often forced to take on this care role for the family
**Presents the women being able to have full time jobs so forced to be £ dependent **
What does Leonard argue about social policy and women?
Argues even with policies to support women, these may still reinforce patriarchal society as a form of social control.
E.g maternity leave policies benefit women → but reinforce the assumption that women are responsible for the care (illustrated by the more generous maternity than paternity leave)
This maternity benefits are also ^ womens financial dependence on their partners
This shows the importance in social policies** in creating the constructions of these social roles and maintaining the patriarchal roles** assumed to be the norm.
Evaluation of the feminist view on social policy?
- not all policies are directed at maintaining patriarchy - 1970 = pay act / sex discrimination laws , benefits for lone parents - could all be said to challenge patriarchy
- Fails to acknowledge these - deterministic
Define the term Gender regime
describes how social policies in different countries can either encourage or discourage gender in the family/ at work.
What does drew argue about Gender regimes?
Argues two concepts of the types of regimes
* familistic gender regime
* Individualistic gender regime
argues that most EU countries are now moving toward the individualistic GR - likely to bring a mov away from traditional roles.
Define familistic gender regime
Policies are based on traditional gender division of the instrumental and expressive roles.
E.g in greece found that there is little state welfare or public funded childcare the women have to do the child care - a traditional division of labour
Define individualistic gender regimes
Where policies are based on beliefs both partners should be treated the same - both partners are entitled to state benefits.
E.g in Sweden policies treat husbands = responsible on domestic tasks / EOP / childcare / quality welfare services → allowing for women to be less £ dependent = more symmetry
