Family and state policy

• What is social policy?

  • A plan or course of action put in place by a government to solve a particular social problem
• What do left wing say about social policy?

  • Nuclear family is desirable
  • Alternative families are acceptable and may be successful at child rearing
  • The state should play a role in family life
  • Support the idea that both parents may work
• What do right wing say about social policy?

  • Nuclear family is the ideal
  • Alternatives to the family are inadequate, create crisis and cause social problems
  • State should play a limited role in family life
  • Support traditional roles
• Timeline of major policies:

  • 1942 - Beveridge Report (welfare state - NHS)
  • 1967- legislation of contraceptive pill
  • 1969- divorce reform act
  • 2014 - Same sex marriage
• Are conservatives right or left wing?

  • Right wing
• What is an example sociologist group who have conservative views?

  • New Right
• What are 3 conservative trends 1979-97?

  • Tax + Welfare policy (favours heterosexual couples)
  • Policies supporting men as breadwinner + mother as carer (child benefit paid to mother)
  • Reluctant to impose policies on a private institution (don't want people to intervene)
• 1997-2010 labour family policies:

  • Tony Blair - supports people at the bottom of life
  • Labour appointed a minister for children in 2003
  • Sociologist LEWIS - sees the moves as investing in children + recognises that family is changing rather than condemning those changes
  • Example : Lone parents + New deal - giving training + childcare
• Familial ideology =

  • Set of ideas of what an ideal family is
• What is the new right familial ideology?

  • Traditional unit with clear divisions of labour
• How is the familial ideology transmitted?

  • Media
  • Politicians
  • Advertisers
  • Pressure groups e.g. Youth concern
• What do New right mean when they say the golden age of family?

  • Refer to a golden age when husbands + wives strongly committed to each other + children brought up to respect parents + institutions
• Coalition government policy 2010-2015:

  • Help to buy scheme (housing scheme)
  • Parental choice in education
  • Pupil premium
  • Troubled families programme 2011
• What do sociologists say about the coalition policies?

  • Leonard - suggests there is a strong preference for nuclear family ideology
  • Feminists suggest increased hardship for women + children (e.g. Mothers skipping meals to feed children)
  • Critics suggest that benefit cuts will hurt only most vulnerable in society (harsh to encourage people to be proactive)
• What do New Right see as symptoms of decline in family mortality?

  • Marriage being less popular
  • Increase in cohabitation
  • Number of births outside of marriage
• What do New right see as threats to family + society?

  • Homosexuality
  • Single parenthood
  • Liberal sex education
  • abortion
  • Working mothers
• New right and state policy:

  • Sociologist Morgan suggests that the government is anti marriage
  • Divorce is too easy to obtain
  • Governments have encouraged women into work, creating maternal deprivation
• Criticisms of new right:

  • NR only focus on family, whereas government refuses to override the rights of those in it
  • Feminists believe some of the policies have increased inequality
  • Focus on victim blaming : e.g. Lone parents responsible for teenage antisocial behaviour
• What is the functionalist familial ideology?

  • Traditional nuclear family
• What do functionalists say about state policy?

  • State acts in interests of families + society as a whole
  • Policies support family functions e.g. Tax breaks for married couples
  • See changes as march of progress = policies improve family life e.g. Access to NHS
• Criticism of functionalist + family policy :

  • Feminists believe many of the policies benefit men - benefit cuts keep women in unhappy marriages
• Feminists argue that courts assume that women take custody in divorce, which is seen as the natural carers.
• The feminist perspective of family and state policy is a conflict perspective that sees society as a conflict of interests between men and women.
• Feminist sociologists argue that family and state policy benefits men and patriarchy.
• Land points to maternity leave being much longer than paternity leave, reinforcing gender roles.
• Drew studied different societies to consider whether they had traditional/familistic regimes (Greece) or more equal individualistic gender regimes (Sweden) by considering taxes, childcare, welfare, and equal opportunities.
• Drew suggests that some countries are able to put forward more equal and progressive policies.
• Family policy and feminism include assigning the best council houses to children with parents and encouraging females as carers for the elderly and disabled.
• The Marxist perspective of family and state policy is a conflict perspective that sees society as capitalist and divided into two classes: the bourgeoisie and the proletariat.
• Marxists argue that policies serve capitalism.
• During World War II, governments set up nurseries to support working women, but closed them when men returned.
• Marxists argue that low pensions are given to keep the elderly at a minimum cost as they have no use.
• How might the 1969 divorce act affect family life in the UK?

  • Increases divorce
  • Increase in lone parents
  • Reconstituted households
• Does the 1969 divorce act support or undermine the conventional nuclear family?

  • Undermine
• Who benefits from the 1969 divorce act?

  • Women
  • In abusive relationships
• How do the maternity + paternity acts affect family life in the UK?

  • Should make relationships more equal between men + women
• Do maternity + paternity acts support or undermine the conventional nuclear family?

  • Undermine
• Who benefits from the maternity + paternity acts?

  • Women - encourages men to become primary child carers
  • Men - easier for them to be stay at home dads
• How does the civil partnership + gay marriage acts affect family life in the UK?

  • Reduces stigma against same sex relationships
  • Encourages more same sex families
• Does the civil partnership + gay marriage acts support or undermine the conventional nuclear family?

  • Undermine