New Right and the Family.
- Created by: shanbrookes8742
- Created on: 01-05-15 14:30
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- New Right and the Family.
- The New Right are usually conservatives, and were most influential in the 1980's with Margaret Thatcher. They see a normal family as the nuclear family unit, for example, John Redwood, a Conservative MP, stated in 1993 that the "natural state should be the two-adult family caring for their children"
- Murray (1989)
- Wrote about undercla** in America and said that it is increasing in the UK
- He identified two groupd the New Rabble, which includes long-term unemployed, welfare dependents and single mothers relying on benefits- this group is dangerous for society because children are not socialised properly; and the New Victorians, who are the respectable middle cla** who marry, socialise their children properly, work and pay taxes.
- In the recent years there has been growing concern about the state of the family. The New Right are very critical of single parent families for 2 reasons:
- they aregue that single-parent families cost too much in welfare benefits.
- they argue that men should be treated as bread winners and women the home makers. They are against cohabitation and divorce and in favour of marriage.
- They believe that children need a male and female role model for adequate socialisation.
- they argue that men should be treated as bread winners and women the home makers. They are against cohabitation and divorce and in favour of marriage.
- They believe that children need a male and female role model for adequate socialisation.
- they aregue that single-parent families cost too much in welfare benefits.
- Further evidence comes from lone-parent families; fatherle** families; divorce rates; cohabitation and gay and lesbian couples. As a result of these changes, two-parent nuclear family headed by a married couple is steadily decreasing.
- The following have been seen as causing these changes:
- the influence of feminism which have devalued marriage, domesticity and childrearing, and encouraged women to seek fulfilment outside of the home
- over-generous welfare benefits to single mothers which allow fathers to opt out of their responsibility-es for raising and providing for their children
- increased sexual permi**ivene-**
- breakdown of "traditional family values"
- Greater tolerance of gay and lesbian relationships as alternatives to heterosexual marriage
- The following have been seen as causing these changes:
- Consequence:
- It is therefore failing to provide adequate socialisation which can result in children underachieving at school and behaving in an anti-social way ranging from rudene** to crime
- The "fragmented family" is no longer preforming it's functions
- Also over-generous welfare benefits can lead to welfare dependency.
- According to New Right, these changes have serious consequences.
- Lone mothers become dependant on state benefits and, in effect, are "married to the state.
- What can be done:
- There will be two main solutions:
- secondly, a change in government policy - redirecting welfare benefits and social service provision to support and maintain two parent families and penalising those who fail to live up to this deal
- first, a return of traditional family values - life long marriage and a recognition of the duties and responsibilitie-s of parenthood.
- Benson (2006)
- analysed data on the parents of over 15,000 babies born in 2000-1, nearly 3000 of the mothers had become lone-parents during the first 3 years of the child's life.
- However the rate of break-ups between married couples was much lower, 6% compared with 20% of cohabiting couples.
- Denis and Eros (2000)
- They state that on average, they have pooerer health and lower educational attainment.
- Talks about fatherle** families claiming it places disadvantage-es on children
- This lack of a farther apparently leads to irresponsible, immature and anti-social behaviour amongst young men
- Amato (2000)
- found that children in families that have broken down face greater povery, educational failure, crime and health proble-ms, as well as increased chance of future family breakdowns when they become adults themselves.
- Smart (2003)
- In her speech on changing attitudes of family life, believes that one-parent families encourage "bad relationships", especially with the absent parent.
- There will be two main solutions:
- Criticisms:
- It can be argued that it may not be marriage, as such, that provides protection against family breakdown, but more simply the degree of commitment - those who are more committed to another to begin with may be more likely to marry and are more likely to stay together.
- Feminists argue that the New Right hold sexist views on women, and that women increasingly go out and work as the family can no longer survive on a single male wage
- There is little evidence that lone - parents are the cause of a "dependency culture" nor that their children are more likely to be delinquent that those brought up y two parent families of the same social cla**.
- The new Right tends to group all single-parent families together and criticises them, without acknowledge-ing many nuclear families that fail to socialise their children properly.
- If the welfare benefits were cut off for single parents, it is the children that would unfairly suffer
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