Families and Social policy

Policies are based on laws introduced by governments to provide a framework for society's day-to-day operation - most social policy will affect the family either directly or indirectly.

A comparative view of family policy

The actions of government can have a significant effect on family members, certain cross-cultural examples demonstrate how social policy has impacted the family over history.

• In China, the government controls population with the one-child policy to discourage families from having more children, women have to kees permission to become pregnant (there is a waiting list for each factory) and couples who comply are benefited with free child healthgare and tax allowances. Couples that break have to pay a fine and may have to undergo steralisation.
• The former communist Romanian government in the 1980s introduced a number of policies to increase the birth rate, restricting contreception and abortion, making divorce more difficult and making childless couples pay an extra 5% income tax.
• Nazi Germany of 1930 pursued a twofold policy, encouraging a radically pure, master race by restricting access to contraception and seeking to keep women out of work to ensure they could perform their biological role. They also steralised 375,000 disabled people to ensure all children were 'pure', many were killed in concentration camps.
• Some argue that democratic societyoes in Britain the family is private, without governmental intervention, however others believe that the state's social policies play an important role in shaping family life.

Perspectives - sociologists hold different views on the effects of social policy on the family.

Functionalists see society as built on harmony and free from major conflict, the state acts in society's interests and policies are for the good of all and help familes perform their functions more efficiently. Fletcher believes that the introduction of health and education policies post-industrialisation led to the development of the welfare state to contribute to this, National Health service allows families to take care of members when sick with the help of doctors.

• Not all member benefit equally, they only benefit men at the expense of women.
• Assumes a march of progress when they reverse progress already made, cutting welfare benefits for poor families. Donzelot also sees this as state control over the family.

• Donzelot takes a conflitct view and sees policy as state control over families, using Foucalt's concept of surveillance, power is something held by both the government and something defused throughout society. Social workers and doctors use their knowledge to control and change families, the policing of families - and surveillance is target on pronlem familes that are in need of improvement.
  • Fails to identify clearly who the benefitors are, marxists believe that these are the capitalist class and feminists believe they men. 

The New Right strongly favour the traditional nuclear family, seeing it as naturally self-reliant and capabable of socialisation all members. The changes have led to greater family diversity - increeases in divorce and lone parenthood that threaten the conventional nuclear family. State policies have encouraged these changes, Almond argues that, laws…