Topic 4 Flashcards
Comparative view - chinas one child policy
Gov. population control has aimed to discourage couples from having more than one child.
The policy is supervised by workplace family planning committees – women must seek permission before getting pregnant – quite often a waiting list
Comparative Romania
The former communist government in the 1980s introduced a number of policies to try to drive up the birth rate.
• It restricted contraception and abortion
• Set up infertility treatment centres
• Made divorce more difficult
• Lowered the legal age of marriage to 15
• Made unmarried and childless couples pay more tax
Comparative view - Nazi germany
In 1930s the state encouraged twofold policy:
It encouraged the ‘racially pure’ to breed a ‘master race’, kept women out of the workforce to better perform their biological role
On the other hand the state compulsory sterilised disabled people, many of which were later sent to concentration camps.
Functionalism - fletcher
argues that the introduction of health, education and housing policies since the industrial revolution has led to the development of a welfare state that supports families.
E.g. the NHS means that doctors, nurses and hospitals help the family take care of its members
Functionalism - donzelot
offers a very different explanation than functionalists, rather than the consensus view of policy he sees policies as creating conflict in society and helps the state exert power and control over families.
He argues that policies allow professionals to carry out surveillance of families
The new right - Murray
is critical of welfare policy. Providing generous welfare benefits (support lone parents) undermines the nuclear family and encourages deviant and dysfunctional family types that harm society.
Feminists A03 of new right
It is an attempt to return to the traditional patriarchal nuclear family that subordinates women and confines them to a domestic role
Marxists A03 of new right
Cutting benefits would simply take poor families and rive them even further into poverty.
Conservative government 1979-97
Margaret Thatcher’s conservative gov-
Banned the promotion of homosexuality by local authorities, including ban on teaching it was acceptable
Defined divorce as a social problem and emphasised the importance of continued support for children by both parents – set
up Child Support Agency
But they also introduced policies that made divorce easier and
giving children born outside of marriage the same rights as those born to married parents.
New labour government - 1997-2010
So Labour policies favoured dual-earner, neo-conventional family types:
• Longer maternity leave for both parents and the right to seek unpaid leave for family
reasons.
• Woking Family Tax Credits, allow parents to claim some tax relief on childcare costs.
• The New Deal, helping lone parents to return to work
New Labour, unlike the New Right, believe that state intervention can help families. For example:
• Welfare, taxation and minimum wage policies were aimed at lifting children out of poverty by re-distributing wealth through higher benefits
New Labour also differ to New Right in their support of alternatives to the conventional nuclear family:
• Civil partnerships for same-sex couples
• Giving unmarried couples the same right to adopt as married couples
• Outlawing discrimination on the grounds of sexuality
Coalition governments -2010-2015
Modernists – who see families are more diverse
Traditionalists – who favour the New Right and reject diversity as morally wrong
This division in the conservative party has meant that they have struggled to maintain a consistent policy line on the family. E.g. the Conservative coalition-led government introduced same sex marriage - a policy opposed by the Conservative traditionalists.
Marxists -
Marxists believe society is based on conflict between classes (the proletariat – working class and the bourgeoisie – the ruling class).
They reject the march of progress view that social policies help improve family life.
They argue any improvement made can be just as easily taken away. E.g. benefit cuts.
Feminism - land
argue that many social policies
assume that the ideal family type is a cereal packet family (traditional nuclear family).
This norm of what families should be like affects the kind of policies produced and so the policies reinforce this particular type of family at the expense of others creating a self-fulfilling prophecy. E.g. tax breaks for married couples discourages cohabitation
Policies supporting the patriarchal family - feminism
Tax and benefits policies – assume husbands are the main wage-earners and that wives are their financial dependents - this can make it impossible for wives to claim social security in their own right and this reinforced dependence on their husband
• Childcare – whilst there is some government funding for childcare this is not enough to permit parents to work full time unless they can afford the costs. Also policies
governing school holidays and timetables make it difficult to work full time.
This means women are restricted from working and are dependent on their partners.
Care for sick and elderly – policies often assume the family will provide this care. In general this is usually middle aged women who are expected to do the caring – this
prevents full time work and further dependence on partners.
