Social policy

Family policy in China (one child)

Aimed at controlling population, women have to seek permission to get pregnant from workplace family planning committees

• couples who follow receive benefits such as free childcare, those who don’t receive fines

Social policy in communist Romania

1980s they introduced policies aiming to raise the birth rate

• restricting contraception, made divorce more difficult, made unmarried and adults and childless couples pay an extra 5% income tax

What are nazi family policies

Twofold policy in the 1930s

• ‘aryan race’ encouraged to have chrildren by restricting abortion and contraception

• Those deemed ‘unfit to breed’ were sterilised, 375,000 disabled

Family policy in democratic society

Britain sees the family as a private sphere the government shouldn’t be involved in - except for cases of child abuse

What does Murray say about welfare policy

Generous welfare benefits for teen mums undermine the traditional nuclear family by encouraging lone parent families which are dysfunctional as they cause harm to society

• fathers abandon their responsibilities if they see that the state will pay for their children

What does Almond say about social policy

1. Divorce policies

2. Legalising gay marriage

3. Tax laws

Undermines traditional nuclear family

What do new right say about social policy in general

Social policies which encourage family diversity threaten the nuclear family and cause social problems

What influence has new right had on conservative government 1979-97

1. Thatcher banned local authorised from promoting homosexuality

2. Child support agency - parents responsibility for the child continues after divorce

What influence did the new right have on the new labour government 1997-2010

Emphasised parental responsibility BUT favoured neo conventional family, this meant policies like longer maternity leave and working families tac credit were enforced

What is new rights solution to current social policy

1. Cutting welfare benefits

2. Denying teen girls council housing

3. Policies which support the nuclear family such as making absent fathers financially responsible for their chrildren

What’s an evaluation for the new right

feminists say that this justifies going back to the nuclear family where women are controlled and oppressed

What is an evolution for new rights solution of cutting welfare benefits

Abbott and Wallace say that this simply serves poor families into poverty making them even less self reliant

What does Fletcher say about social policy and what perspective is he

Functionalist

Health, housing and education policies since the Industrial Revolution have led to the development of the welfare state - supports the family in performing its functions

• for example NHS

What do functionalists think of social policy

They believe the state acts in interest of society so policies they make are for the good of all

What is it meant by policing the family

Refers to how professionals carry out surveillance of families. Donzelot argues social workers, doctors… use their knowledge to control and change families

Why does Donzelot believe policing the family is used to control and change families

It’s not carried out equally - poor families are seen as a ‘problem’ and the cause of crime and anti social behaviour (this is why professionals target them for improvement)

What is an example of how policing the family is not carried out equally

Condry

The state tried to control/ regulate family life by imposing court parental orders on the parents of truants and young offenders so they learn the correct way of raising their child

What is an evaluation of Donzelot’s view on social policy

Fails to identify who benefits from the policing of families

What are criticisms of the functionalist view of social policy

1. It assumes social policy benefits family members equally

2. It assumes social policy makes the family better and better

What do feminists say about family policy in general

The state and its policy help maintain women’s subordinate position in society and the family

How do feminists say that policy acts as a self fulfilling prophecy

Land

Social policies assume that the ideal family type is patriarchal and nuclear, this is reinforced through social policies

• for example - if the state assumes normal families are based on marriage and makes tax incentives to reflect this, this makes it more difficult for other family types to live

What social policy’s support the patriarchal family

1. Tax and benefits

2. Childcare

3. Care for the sick and elderly

What does Leonard say about social policy and what perspective is she

Feminist

Policies which appear to support women actually reinforce patriarchy

• for example - assuming women will care for the child and therefore giving them longer maternity leave

What is an evaluation of the feminist perspective

Not all policies reinforce patriarchy eg: rape in marriage was made illegal in 1991

What is it meant by the term gender regimes

Describes how social policies in different countries can either encourage or discourage gender equality in the family and at work

• Feministic - based on the traditional gender division of labour

• Individualistic - based on the idea husbands and wives aren’t the same

What does Drew say about EU counties

They are moving towards individualistic regimes which will bring society away from traditional regimes and towards greater equality