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traditional marriage and social life is breaking down. consequently, children are poorly socialised and underachieve in school, crime is rising and more lone mother depend on the welfare state
calls for a return to traditional family values, e.g. couples waiting to marry before having children, women focusing on raising children
an underclass has emerged in briain and us, made up of the poorest people who depend on welfare state rather than work
murray argues that lone-parent families headed by women form a significant section of this underclass
children growing up without a father are more likely to turn to crime
blames this on governments have rewarded irresponsible behaviour, e.g. children outside of marriage, by giving over-generous benefits to lone mothers, creating a welfare dependency
murray suggests that children born outside of marriage would be better being adopted than brought up by lone mothers
children raised by single mothers on average have lower educational attainment and poorer health than children from two-parent families
boys in particular grow up without learning that adulthood involves taking responsibility for a wife and children, so develop into immature, irresponsible and anti-social young men
accused of thinking back to a ‘golden age’ of family life where the nuclear family was the norm. lone-parent families, cohabitation and sexual relationships have always existed but were hidden in the past
new right see the nuclear family as superior to other families, but others argue that individuals should be free to choose whatever family works best for them
the new right blame the ‘decline of family life’ on government policies, which have given insufficient support to married two-parent families. they also portray lone-parent and poor families in a negative light
chambers argues that many of the fears about lone-parent families and the decline of marriage and family life are a moral panic whipped up by sections of the media and right-wing politician in the 90s
