Social policies

china one child

-complying gets you free healthcare and priority in education

-more than one gets you fined, women are pressured to be sterilised after their first child

communist romania

-birth rate driven up by restricted contraception, abortion and lower marriage age

-unmarried and childless couples pay more tax

nazi family policy

-bred those who were 'racially pure'

-sterilized people for physical malformation and mental retardation

functionalist fletcher (1966)

intro of the NHS and housing policies helped families take better care of its members and supports families performing their functions

donzelot

-policies is state power and control over families

-professionals (doctors, social workers, health visitors) use their insider knowledge to make their families conform to certain norms

-this surveillance isn't equal, meaning working class is targeted as the cause of crime and anti-social behaviour

new right criticism

-social policies (divorce, homo marriage, welfare) are a threat to family and society

-they undermine the nuclear family and create a culture of dependency

-benefits offer a perverse incentive and reward irresponsible behaviour

~teen mums get council houses

~men leave because state money helps

-threatens socialisation and maintaining a work ethic amongst men

new right solusions

-restrict welfare

-deny housing to unmarried mothers

-policies that benefit nuclear families

-no state interference in family life so they meet their own needs

tory governent 1979-97

-thatcher banned homo promo and the teaching of it as a normal family type

-she defined divorce as a social problem

~leads to child support

new labour gov 19970-2010

-hetero nuclear family is the bedrock of society

-encouraged neo-conventional family

~longer maternity/paternity leave, helping solo parent find jobs, tax relief on child support

-support alternatives to hetero nuclear family

~civil partnerships

~adoption rights for unmarried couples

~outlawing homophobia

tory-llibdem coalition 2010-15

-a mix of traditionalists and modernists so inconsistent family policies

-they removed child benefit from higher income families to meet the tory austerity but the public some lib dems thought that the stricter means testing was bad

Land (1978)(1)

social policy assumes what a 'normal' family is, reinforcing hetero ideas

Land (1978)(2)

-pay gap

-hindered career advancement due to potential maternity leave

-joint tax can be a disincentive since its taxed at the higher earners wage and women usually earn less as they assume the man is the breadwinner

-married couples allowance was higher when the male income was too

supporting the patriarchal family

-tax and benefits: women cant claim social security because it's assumed that the man provides

-childcare: mandatory maternity leave assumed expressive role, school holidays