Impact on family structure

• How can social policy impact family structures?

  • Increased cohabiting and delayed marriages
  • Increased Divorce
  • Same sex families
  • More lone-parent families
• What is meant by Direct policies?

  Policies that promote or reject certain house hold structures
• What is an example of a direct policy?

  Tax Allowance for married couples
• What is meant by Indirect Policies?

  Policies that may not have intended to impact on household structures but once implemented had an impact
• What is an example of a Indirect policy?

  Equal Pay act
• What causes an increase in cohabiting and delayed marriages?


  • Career aspirations of women mean that marriage is delayed as women are focused upon there career - SUE SHARPE
  • Availability of contraception and legislation of abortion means couples can delay having children
  • Greater geographical movement means that people often work apart or decide to travel before settling down
• What causes an increase in divorce?

  • Divorce reform act has lead to increase in breakdown of family unit leading to more lone parent families, lone person household and more reconstituted families
  • Creation of welfare states meant that resident parents could get greater financial support from the state for looking after children e.g. single parent benefits and child tax credits
• What causes an increase in same sex families?

  • Decriminalisation of homosexuality, introduction of civil partnerships and same sex marriages have changed family structure
  • Changes to legislation to adoption and IVF treatments have led to an increase in same sex families
• What causes an increase in lone parent families?

  • Welfare states meant that provides protection for lone parent families. This has led to accusations of ‘welfare dependacy’
  • Availability of IVF treatments and lone parent adoption means women can choose to parent alone
  • Creation of child support agencies to chase down non-resident parents