Family Policy

Functionalist view on Family Policy

Society is harmonious and based on consensus

• believe policies help families function more effectively

Functionalist Family Policy - Fletcher

Since the industrial revolution policies have gradually led to the development of a welfare state that supports the family in performing its functions more effectively

Marxist Family Policy - Donzelot: policing the family

Sees policies as power and control mechanisms spread throughout society and embedded in all relationships

• professionals exercise this power over families, particularly targeting poor families

Rejects the functionalist notion

• highlights the role of the “caring professions” in social control through family surveillance

New Right view on Family Policy

• Support low taxes and argue for a limited role for the welfare state; privatisation

• Believe individuals and families should be self-reliant

• Should only get help from state when there is no other option

New Right Family Policy - Murray: ‘underclass’

Society is created by the disintegration of the traditional nuclear family structure

• cycle perpetuated by the underclass creates a culture of dependency on the state and its benefits

Underclass is defined not by poverty itself, but by the deplorable behaviour of individuals in response to their condition

• poor people personalises the causes of their poverty, attributing it to moral failings rather than structural factors

Feminist view on Family Policy

Society is patriarchal, benefiting men at the expense of women

• argue that social institutions, including the state, maintain women’s subordinate position, and enforce unequal gender division of labour in families

Feminist Family Policy - Land

Self-fulfilling prophecy, where policies like tax incentives for married couples encourage marriage and discourage cohabitation

• these policies perpetuate the assumed “normal” family model

Important family policies: pre 1980

• National Health Service

• Divorce Reform Act

• The Beveridge Report

The National Health Service (Family Planning)

Act 1967: Legalised the provision of contraceptive advice and services

• significant milestone for women’s reproductive rights and sexual freedom in Britain

The Divorce Reform

Act 1969: “irretrievable breakdown” of marriage as the sole ground for divorce

• simplifying the process by removing the need to establish fault or specific offences

• allowing couples to divorce more amicably after a period of separation

The Beveridge Report

1942: welfare support for families supporting families with children financially

Conservative - 1979-1997

Margaret Thatcher - very traditional

• idealistic view of the family, which echoes much functionalist and New Right thought

Conservative - Child Support Agency CSA

The Children Act 1989 - emphasised the primary responsibility of parents in securing the welfare of their parents, state’s role was to ensure separated parents financially supported their children

• Diversity

• Saves Money

Conservative - Married Men’s Tax Relief

UK tax system that provided a higher tax-free allowance for married men compared to single men

• Nuclear Family

Conservative - Section 28

prohibited the “promotion of homosexuality”

• Nuclear Family

New Labour - 1979-1997

New Labour also tended to favour the ‘traditional’ nuclear family

• believed that state intervention and aid actually helps families out rather than encourages ‘Dependency’

Aspects of policies: Social Liberalism, Family Values, and Support and Control

New Labour - Working Family Tax Credits

Replaced the married man’s tax allowance

• Removed a tax incentive for couples to get married and to stay married

• Provided a tax allowance for families with children - help pay for childcare: designed to encourage both partners to work - later followed with child tax credits

• Diversity

• Nuclear Family

• Equality

New Labour - Paternity Leave

2003: men were able to get two weeks of paid parental leave

• Nuclear Family

• Equality

New Labour - Civil Partnerships (2005)

Allowed same-sex relationships to be legally recognised on the same terms as marriage

• Diversity

• Equality

New Labour - Adoption and Children’s Act (2002)

Allowed same-sex couples to adopt children

• Diversity

• Nuclear Family

• Equality

• Saves Money

Coalition Government - Shared Parental Leave

Both parties in the coalition were keen for parental leave to be able to be shared equally

• Diversity

• Nuclear Family

• Equality

Coalition Government - Equal Family Act

2013: Legalised same-sex marriage in England and Wales despite opposition from traditionalists

• Church of England was granted an exception, making it illegal to conduct same-sex marriages in its churches

• Diversity

• Equality

Conservative (2015+) - Two Child Benefit Cap

Restricts the payment of child tax

• Nuclear Family

• Saves Money

Conservative (2015+) - Tax Free Child Care

2017: provides up to £2,000 per year towards childcare costs for each child under 12

• Available for working families, Earning up to £200,000 per year

• Saves Money

Conservative (2015+) - Marriage Allowance

Tax relief allows individuals to transfer £1.260 of their personal tax-free allowance to their spouse

• available to couples where one partner earns less than the personal allowance threshold

• Equality

• Saves Money