Evaluating conservative policies 1979-1997

• Despite the importance of family values to New Right politicians, actually there was not a great deal of ground-breaking family policy in this period
• Marxists argue that New Right ideas are just ideology


  The Child Support Agency's real purpose was to cut public spending and lower taxes for the wealthy, not to encourage parental responsibility
• The main trend at the time was more diversity, more women in work; the policy focus was "holding back the tide"
• It seems unlikely that couples would stay together or choose to get married, or women might not to go to work, just for small tax breaks