new right

• New Right

  A group of thinkers and a set of policies based on right-wing political beliefs and values
• In the UK, the New Right aligns with and influences the Conservative government and its policies, having originated in the 1980s
• Supporters of the New Right

  • Have conservative views on economic and social issues
  • Believe in minimal government intervention
  • Oppose social policies and welfare
  • Espouse traditional values and lifestyles
• The New Right is not a structural theory in the same way as functionalism or Marxism
• The New Right view on the family

  Is based on a firm belief that the nuclear family is the 'normal' and ideal type of family
• Ideal nuclear family

  • A married mother and father couple
  • A breadwinner father
  • A stay-at-home mother
• The New Right believes that the nuclear family is the bedrock of society as it is a self-reliant unit that does not seek welfare from the government
• The New Right believes that there is a decline in the number of nuclear families in modern society due to higher numbers of single-parent families, cohabiting families, and higher divorce rates
• The New Right believes that the reduced significance of the nuclear family leads to many problems in society, including crime, poverty, over-reliance on the welfare state and a decline in morality
• The New Right advocates a return to 'traditional family values' and opposes the rise of other types of families, favouring the conventional two-parent family structure
• The New Right objects to social policies that support other types of families, such as generous welfare benefits for single parents and unemployed individuals, and the legalisation of same-sex marriage
• Findings of Dennis and Erdos (1992)

  • Children, especially boys with absent fathers, have poorer health, lower levels of educational achievement, worse life choices, and higher levels of unemployment and crime compared to children in two-parent families
  • Men who grew up without fathers are also likely to become absent fathers themselves, creating a generational cycle
• Single-parent families are twice as likely to experience poverty compared to two-parent families
• Children from broken and unstable homes are nine times more likely to become young offenders
• Underclass

  A group of individuals in a society created by single parenthood, who take advantage of the welfare system, remain unemployed, commit crimes, and socialise their children to continue the same lifestyle
• Murray believes that the state should intervene as little as possible to promote individual responsibility and prevent this over-reliance on the state
• Policies that promote the nuclear family

  • Removing or cutting down on welfare benefits for single-parent families and unemployed people
  • Making it difficult to obtain a divorce
• The New Right assumes that a two-parent family does not have any negative aspects at all
• Criticisms of the New Right view of the family

  • The nuclear family is still the dominant family type and most children are raised by two parents (Robert Chester, 1985)
  • The New Right is intolerant of family diversity, including single-parent, same-sex, reconstituted, and unmarried cohabitating families
  • The New Right ignores the oppression of women by men in a nuclear family structure, including domestic abuse (Feminists)
  • The New Right ignores the subjugation of the proletariat (working class) through the nuclear family structure (Marxists)
  • The media creates unjustified 'moral panics' about non-nuclear family types, which are then used to justify welfare benefit cuts (Deborah Chambers, 2001)
  • The New Right overlooks the fathers who have left their families and the strength it takes to raise a family alone
• There is substantial evidence that shows that children are generally better off in two-parent families
• There is also evidence to show that the nuclear family is declining
• New Right

  A group of thinkers and a set of policies based on right wing political beliefs and values, originating in the 1980s and influencing conservative governments and their policies
• Supporters of the New Right

  • Have conservative views on social and economic issues
  • Believe in minimal government intervention
  • Oppose social policies and welfare
  • Espouse traditional values and lifestyle
• The New Right

  Is not a structural theory in the same way as Marxism and Functionalism, but is similar to Functionalism
• New Right view of the family

  The nuclear family is the ideal and normal family type
• Nuclear family

  • Consists of a married mother and father couple, with a breadwinner father and stay at home mother
  • Is the bedrock of society as an independent family unit that doesn't rely on welfare from the government
  • Children are cared for by 2 parents with a clear division of roles
• Decrease in nuclear family

  Due to increase in diverse family types and high divorce rates
• Reduced numbers of nuclear family

  Leads to problems in society, including crime, poverty, over reliance on the state and a decline in morality
• New Right


  Advocates a return to traditional family values, influenced by morality
• New Right


  Opposes policies that support diverse family types, such as generous welfare benefits for single parents/unemployed, and legislation of same-sex marriage
• Norman Dennis and George Erdos found that boys with absent fathers have poorer health, lower levels of educational attainment, worse life choices, higher levels of unemployment and crime
• The effects of absent fathers for boys is that they lack a male role model and lack primary socialisation, leading to anti-social behaviour with negative consequences for society
• Men with absent fathers are more likely to become absent fathers themselves, creating a generational cycle
• Single parent families are twice as likely to experience poverty compared to two-parent families
• Children from broken homes are more likely to become young offenders
• Charles Murray


  Believes the integration of the traditional nuclear family structure leads to an increase in family diversity and teen pregnancies, creating an 'underclass' of people who take advantage of the welfare system, remain unemployed, commit crimes and socialise their children to continue the same lifestyle
• Charles Murray


  Believes the state should intervene as little as possible to promote individual responsibility and prevent over-reliance on the state
• Policies that promote the nuclear family


  • Removing or cutting down on welfare state benefits for single parent families and unemployed people
  • Making it difficult to obtain a divorce, forcing people to seek employment and stop relying on the state
  • Decreasing incentives for teen pregnancies and single parent families due to lack of support
• There is substantial evidence that children are generally better off in two-parent families
• The nuclear family is declining