Feminism Family Policy

• •Feminists take a conflict view of family policy•They argue social institutions including the state and its policies help to maintain women’s subordinate position and unequal division of labour in the family.
• •Hilary Land (1978) argues social policies assume the ideal, normal family type is the patriarchal nuclear family.
• •Policies in turn tend to reinforce that particular family at the expense of other family types, resulting in the nuclear family being the main family type.–E.g. tax breaks for married coupes encourage marriage and discourage cohabitation
• Policies Which Support Patriarchy

  •Childcare: School timetables and holidays make it difficult for both parents to work full time, and whilst some free childcare is offered by the government for younger children, it is not enough to enable parents to work full time unless they can meet costs themselves. Usually it is the mother who takes up the childcare, increasing economic dependence.
• Policies That Support Patriarchy

  •Care for sick and elderly: government policies often assume families provide this care. In general it is middle aged women who are expected to do the caring, limiting their careers.
• Gender Regime

  Eileen Drew (1995) uses the concept of gender regimes to describe how social policies in different countries can either encourage or discourage gender equality in the family and at work.
• Gender Regimes

  •Familistic gender regimes enforce traditional gender roles – e.g. in Greece there is little state welfare or publically funded childcare. Women have to rely on support from husbands and extended kin.
• Gender Regimes

  •Individualistic – policies believe husbands and wives should be treated the same, both have access to state benefits. E.g. Sweden has equal opportunities policies, state provision of childcare, equal parental leave giving women and men equal opportunities to work.