Topic 7: Families and social policy.

Question 1

What is social policy?

Answer 1

Social policy refers to the plans and actions of state agencies, such as health and social services, the welfare benefits system, schools and other public bodies.
- Policies usually based on laws introduced by government that provide framework within which these agencies operate e.g. laws lay down who is entitled to each specific welfare benefit.
- Most social policies affect family directly e.g. marriage, divorce, contraception. Other policies indirectly affect families e.g. compulsory education.

Question 2

Functionalists perspectives on families and social policy.

Answer 2

Social policy upholds and reproduces the nuclear family.
Functionalists examine social institutions on the basis of the function/contribution they play in social stability. They see the state as acting in the interests of society as a whole and its social policies as helping families to perform their functions more effectively and make life better for their members.

Question 3

The New right’s perspective on families and social policy.

Answer 3

Social policy encourages and gives unfair advantages to the poor.

Question 4

Feminists perspectives on families and social policy.

Answer 4

Social policy reinforces patriarchal society.

Question 5

Policy: 2013, Same-sex marriage.

Answer 5

The Marriage Act 2013 allows same-sex couples to enter into a marriage in England and Wales on the same basis as heterosexual couples, and to convert civil partnerships in marriages.
- Undermines the nuclear family.

Question 6

Policy: 1975 Child benefit.

Answer 6

1975 the child benefit bill was enacted. The bill replaced family allowance with a benefit for each child, which was paid to the mothers.
- Support the nuclear family: this policy maintains patriarchy.

Question 7

Policy: 1970 Equal Pay Act.

Answer 7

An Act to prevent discrimination, as regards terms and conditions of employment, between men and women.
- Undermines nuclear family.

Question 8

Functionalism and family policy - Fletcher (1966)

Answer 8

• Argues the introduction of health, education and housing policies in the years since the industrial revolution has gradually led to the development of a welfare state that supports the family in performing its functions more effectively.
• For instance, with the NHS the family today is able to take care of it’s members when they are sick.

Question 9

The functionalist view has been criticised on two main accounts:

Answer 9

1. It assumes that all members of the family benefit equally from social polices. Feminists argue policies often benefit men at the expense of women.
2. It assumes there is a ‘march of progress’ with social policies steadily making family life better and better. Marxists argue policies can also make condition for the proletariat even worse e.g. cutting welfare benefits.

Question 10

The New Right and Family policy: What is the best family according to the new right?

Answer 10

They see the nuclear family type as naturally self-reliant and capable of caring and providing for its members, especially the successful socialisation of children.

Question 11

According to the new right, what are two problems that have been a result of increased family diversity?

Answer 11

1. Crime.
2. Welfare dependency.

Question 12

How do the new right see the traditional nuclear family today?

Answer 12

• See traditional nuclear family as under threat and in decline.
• Claim that feminism has turned the ‘natural’ order of things, and especially women’s role within the family, upside down.
• They see the emergence of feminism and government social policies between the 1960-70’s as sustained attack on traditional family values.

Question 13

1974 Family planning- the New Rights view on this.

Answer 13

• The contraceptive pill was made freely available through the NHS.
• The New Right argue this has weakened the family because contraception separates sex from reproduction. They argue it encourages sexual freedom and promiscuity.
• Also seen as threat to existing marriages as it undermines marital fidelity and encourages adultery.

Question 14

The New right and family policy. For the New Right, state polices have encouraged family diversity and helped to undermine the nuclear family. Almond (2006) argues that:

Answer 14

1. Divorce laws becoming easier undermine marriage as lifelong commitment.
2. Legal recognition of same-sex couples, sends the message that heterosexual couples are no longer the dominant.
3. Tax laws discriminate against the nuclear family with them consequently paying more. For instance, as their is only one breadwinner they cannot transfer the non-working partners tax allowance to the working partners.
   - This sends out signal that the state does not see marriage as special or better.

Question 15

One function of family = economic needs. New rights opinion on this.

Answer 15

• One of the functions of the nuclear family is that it meets its members economic needs.
• However, new right argue that the government has weakened the family’s self-reliance by providing overly generous welfare benefits.
  1. Providing council housing for unmarried teenage mothers.
  2. Cash payments to support lone-parent families.

Question 16

The new right - Murray (1984). Arguments on benfits.

Answer 16

Argues these benefits offer ‘perverse incentives’ - they reward irresponsible/anti-social behaviour. e.g.:
- If fathers see state will maintain their children some of them will abandon their responsibilities to their families.
- Providing council housing for unmarried teenage mothers encourages young girls to become pregnant.
- Growth of lone-parent families encouraged welfare benefits means more boys grow up without male role-model and authority figure. The lack of paternal authority is responsible for a rising crime rate amongst young males.

Question 17

The new right - How would they solve the dependency culture the state has created?

Answer 17

• Cuts in welfare benefits and tighter restrictions on who is eligible for benefits, to prevent ‘perverse incentives’.
• Polices to support the traditional nuclear family e.g. taxes that favour married couples rather than cohabitating couples.
• The Child Support agency - whose role is to make absent dads pay for their children.

Question 18

Evaluation of New right view.

Answer 18

• Feminists argue their policies are an attempt to justify a return to the traditional nuclear family, which works to subordinate women.
• Wrongly assumes the patriarchal nuclear family is ‘natural’ rather than socially constructed.
• New Right ignore the many policies that support and maintain the conventional nuclear family rather than undermine it.
• Harding (1996) - the best council housing is still often allocated to married couples whilst single parent families tend to get housed in run-down estates. Housing in UK is mainly designed with nuclear family in mind.

Question 19

Universal credit - the new right.

Answer 19

• New right are in favour of cutting welfare spending. They see ‘benefits cap’/universal credit as a positive step away from the ‘dependency culture’.
• The scaling and cutting back of benefits and replacing it with a new benefit ‘universal credit’ was designed as a way of making people earn more through working rather than claiming benefits. This was intended in reducing welfare dependency.
• However, Abbott and Wallace (1992) argue cutting benefits may simply drive many into poverty, leading to further social problems.

Question 20

New Right - Coalition Government Policies (2010-2015).

Answer 20

Despite New Right’s frustration towards government policies, the coalition government unlike New Labour have continued many of the ideas developed by New Right:
1. The reintroduction of married persons tax allowance (previously cut by New Labour government).
2. Troubled families programme (2011) designed to help families who have problems and cause problems to community round them, putting high costs on public sector. They do this by working alongside local authorities to get children back into school, reduce youth crime and anti-social behaviour.
- Support nuclear family as they offer incentives for couples to be nuclear families. The government have stepped in to effectively socialise and assist families so they can continue social stability.

Question 21

3. Feminism view on families and social policy.

Answer 21

• Policies often based on assumptions about what the ‘normal’ family is like.
• Feminists such as Hilary Land (1978) argue that many social policies assume the ideal family is the patriarchal nuclear family with instrumental and expressive role.
• Family ‘norm’ affects the policies governing family life.
• Applying SFP to family policy, if the state assumes that ‘normal’ families are based on marriage and offer married couples tax incentives. These policies may encourage cohabitating couples/couples to get married.

Question 22

3. Feminist policies - Tax and Benefits policy.

Answer 22

• Assumes husbands are the main wage earners and wives are financially dependent.
• How does this family policy maintain the patriarchal family? Making it impossible for wives to claim social security benefits in their own right (reinforces women’s expressive role).

Question 23

3. Feminist policies - Childcare policy.

Answer 23

• Government pays for some childcare but it’s not enough for parents who work full time. As well as school holiday time table make it hard for both parents to work full-time.
• How does this family policy maintain the patriarchal family? Harder for mothers to work/confined to part-time work. Women made economically dependent on men.

Question 24

3. Feminist policies - Maternity leave.

Answer 24

• Women have a generous maternity leave in comparison to men.
• How does this family policy maintain the patriarchal family? This reinforced the patriarchal family as it encourages the assumption that the responsibility of childcare is the woman’s.

Question 25

Evaluation of feminist view on families and social policy.

Answer 25

Rape within marriage was made a criminal offence in 1991. It attempted to make women especially feel as if the state could intervene in private-sphere issues such as marital rape. The message was clear to both men and women that behaviour is unacceptable. However, very few cases go to court.

Question 26

4. Gender regimes - Drew (1995).

Answer 26

• Uses concept of ‘gender regimes’ to describe how social policies in different countries can either encourage/discourage gender equality in the family and work.
• She identifies 2 types of gender regime following different types of family policies:
  1. Familistic gender regimes - policies based on traditional gender division e.g. In Greece, there is little state welfare for childcare.
  2. Individualistic gender regimes - policies are equal for both genders, they have separate equal entitlement to state benefits e.g. In Sweden, policies treat men and women as both responsible for domestic tasks/breadwinning.

Question 27

In what ways might individualistic gender regimes undermine the patriarchal family?

Answer 27

• By treating men and women as equal, these policies do not recognise the difference and roles between the genders.
• Individualistic gender regimes go against the nuclear family and the biological roles that exist within them.

Question 28

Policies that link to gender regime: 1. Nazi family policy (1930s). Two fold policy - encouraged those radically pure to breed and sterilised people who they deemed unfit to breed.

Answer 28

• They wanted radically pure breed to create master race.
• 1935 Nuremburg race law, it banned marriages between pure Germans and others.
• Part of the Nazi ideology involved women’s role being focused on being a mother. There were financial incentives to have children. Women who had more than 4 children were given a cross of honour.
• They restricted access to abortion and contraception.
• The policy for men and women to perform their biological roles.
• How does this policy reinforce the nuclear family/patriarchal gender roles? It restricts women to expressive role and out of workforce. Hitler rewarded mothers on amount of kids they had, bronze, solver and gold medals. Incentives/SPF of nuclear family.