1979 conservative government

• The Conservative Party was elected in 1979 with Margaret Thatcher as their leader. Reacting to several years of political instability, they set about reforming the relationship between society and the state.
• The Conservatives were influenced by New Right ideology. They believed that nuclear families were the cornerstone of society, but that society should be freed from interference by the state as much as possible. They thought the UK had become a 'nanny state's with too much government control over individual lives.
• The Conservative 1979 government set out to make individuals more responsible for their own lives and decisions. Benefits were cut and taxes lowered.
• The Conservative 1979 government introduced means testing with the aim of helping only those in genuine need.
• (conservative 1979)

  Mother's were encouraged to stay at home through preferential tax allowances. Families were pushed to take on more responsibility for older people through benefit cuts.
• The Conservatives valued traditional, nuclear families.
• In 1988, Thatcher described the family as the building block of society - a nursery, school, hospital, leisure place, place of refuge and of rest.
• The Conservatives created several laws that enforced the rights and responsibilities of individuals in families.