Social policy & the familySocial policy & the familyA policy is a proposed or adopted course or principle of action

Schools have policies; for example whether or not there should be a uniform

Social policies are actions governments put in place to solve problems, or to steer the country in a particular direction

Social policy & the familySocial policy & the familySocial policies vary from making gay

marriage legal, to introducing the EMAAll these policies affect the way society

operates, hence the term ‘social’ policyDuring the 1980s social policies were

being designed to address concerns some politicians had about the family

Successive governments have sought to construct social policies which strengthened the traditional family

The New Right are a group of thinkers who believe the family is the cornerstone of all social policies

Social policy & the familySocial policy & the familyThe New Right are a group of thinkers

who believe the family is the cornerstone of all social policies

They see the nuclear family as the perfect model of how all families should be

Politicians like John Redwood were particularly critical of young single-mothers

Redwood expressed concern about the cost of welfare payments to single-parent families & how they encourage single-parenthood and the subsequent creation of an underclass

Social policy & the familySocial policy & the familySingle-parenthood was seen as the

greatest threat to the nuclear familyThe New Right also identified other

areas which were threatening the nuclear family

Fatherless familiesDivorce CohabitationGay and lesbian couples/marriages

CausesCausesLone-parenting causes a

breakdown of traditional family values by saying other types of families are equally as valid as the traditional nuclear family

Fatherless families causes over-generous welfare payments to single mothers which means fathers are let off their responsibilities to their children

CausesCausesIncreasing divorce rates has been

brought about by the rise in feminism which has devalued marriage, domesticity, childrearing, and has caused women to seek fulfilment outside the home, such as the workplace

Cohabitation has caused an increase in permissiveness and an erosion in loyalty

The increasing tolerance of gay and lesbian couples has eroded the value of heterosexual marriage

ConsequencesConsequencesThe consequences for the family

from the above is the nuclear family becomes a ‘fragmented families’

Fragmented families can no longer function properly as effective socialisation is impossible

Ineffective socialisation causes children to fail at school and are generally anti-social, resulting in more criminal activity

ConsequencesConsequencesMany New Right thinkers argue that

poor socialisation stems from absent fathers

 Families without fathers mean many youngsters, particularly boys, lack male role models, particularly when it comes to discipline

Therefore families no longer function in an effective way which causes numerous social problems.

SolutionsSolutionsThe New Right proposed to key

solutions to the problem of the underclass

First a return to traditional family values, which means marriage for life and recognition of the duties and responsibilities of adults have when bringing children into the world

Secondly a change in government policy so that welfare payments would be designed to support the nuclear family and penalise those families which failed to live up to this ideal

SolutionsSolutionsThese policies would beFor all taxes and welfare benefits to

favour nuclear familiesFor example the income tax

threshold (threshold is the amount of money earned before a person pays income tax) would be raised for married couples

Another example for would be for working family tax credits & child benefit to be only for married couples

SolutionsSolutionsFor the New Right, paying welfare

benefits to diverse family forms has the effect of encouraging all types of other families to become acceptable

Cohabitation should be discouraged possibly through the taxation system or by restricting legal rights and privileges to cohabiting couples.

Divorce should also be made more difficult through the legal system.

Criticism - idealisticCriticism - idealisticIs the New Right spending too

much time looking to the past for a golden age which never really existed?

Victorian times were seen as the ideal, but even then lone parenting, cohabitation and extra-marital relations were common

Criticism – blame gameCriticism – blame gameThe New Right tends to blame victims

for things that are not of their own making

Many of the problems identified come from low wages & a lack of employment opportunities

Also there’s cultural changes, these are endemic rather than unique to an underclass

For example many celebrities are single parents, cohabit, divorce or have affairs