Sociology G672: Social Policy
Unlock all answers in this set
Unlock answersquestion
Social Policy
answer
All laws, benefits and taxes decided by the government which influence family life e.g. laws against child abuse, child benefits and the Child Protection Act
question
The Social Democratic Consensus
answer
Between 1450-79 it didn't matter what political party was in power, they followed the same basic economic policy and largely agreed on the importance of the Welfare state. The Government supported traditional families through benefits
question
Left Wing Views
answer
The views of believing in equality, the Welfare estate and comprehensive education. These views are concerned with women and ethnic minorities
question
Right Wing Views
answer
These views believe the government shouldn't try to achieve equality , save jobs or limit private education or health care - these things are best left to the economy. They view inequality as inevitably and in some ways good
question
Approaches to Family Policy
answer
Social Democratic (Government support those who can't support themselves), New Right (Individualistic), New Labour (Combines left and right wing policies), Feminist (How do the policies affect women)
question
Traditional Perspective
answer
Held by New Right and Functionalist theories on the family. Encourages traditional nuclear family in its policies - it is best to socialise children into society's norms and values. This perspective believes that not living in a nuclear family causes instability and lone parents lead to an underclass
question
Murray
answer
New Right sociologist who believed that boys who lacked role models due to living in a lone parent family would turn out anti-social
question
Feminist Perspective
answer
This perspective doesn't believe the traditional nuclear family is the best type of family to encourage as it maintains gender inequality. It believes the government should help break traditional conjugal roles, protect women from abusive husbands and enable them to divorce abusive husbands
question
Pragmatic Perspective
answer
The perspective believes there is too much family diversity to encourage one type of family in government social policy. They believe the changes in the family (increase in lone parents and divorce) can't be reversed and the government should aim to provide laws that benefit all family types
question
Creation of Welfare State
answer
This policy reflects the traditional perspective on social policy as it encouraged men to be breadwinners and women to be carers. Men received social benefits through their pay packet they could pass on to their wives
question
Divorce Reform Act
answer
This act took place in 1969 and made divorce easier to obtain - there didn't have to be a guilty party, only irretrievable breakdown. The pragmatic and feminist perspectives would support this act
question
One Parent Benefit
answer
This policy (1970) would be supported by the pragmatic perspective as it aimed to reflect extra costs of bringing up a child alone
question
Marital Rape Officially Recongised
answer
In 1991 there this policy recognised a husband forcing his wife to have sex against her will was rape
question
Child Support Agency
answer
This agency was created (1993) to obtain money from the absent parent for the children left after the seperation
question
Nursery Voucher Scheme
answer
This scheme was created in 1997 to help families to afford childcare. It would help parents juggle work and family so the feminist perspective would support it
question
Home-School Agreement
answer
This agreement would be supported by traditionalists as it encourages the discipline of children by parents - the parent would go to prison or have to pay a £2,500 fine if the child does not have acceptable attendance levels (2002)
question
Maternity and Paternity Leave
answer
In 2003 the New Labour government introduced these leaves of absence after having a child, though male take-up is under 50%. This can be linked to sharing parental leave in 2011 (Conservative-Lib dem coalition) where dads can take the rest of the 6 months unpaid leave instead of their wives
question
Flexitime for Parents
answer
This social policy introduced new rights to employees as it gave parents with children under the age of 6/disabled to get their employer to give serious consideration to flexible hours worked (2003)
question
Civil Partnerships Bill
answer
In 2004 the New Labour government proposed this policy so that gay couples could have similar rights to heterosexual married couples
question
Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission
answer
This policy replaced CSA and works at 'arms length' from the government, encouraging parents to make their own arrangements concerning child support
question
Proposal to Reward Marriage through Tax
answer
The conservative party proposed in 2008 that they may introduce tax relief for married couples
question
The Marriage Act
answer
This act was passed by both the house of commons and lords in 2013 allowing same sex couples in England and Wales to marry demonstrating a pragmatic perspective to family social policy
question
1908
answer
The year the first state pension was set and the retirement age was set to 70 for men and women
question
1925
answer
The year the age of retirement was reduced to 65 years for both men and women
question
1940
answer
The year retirement age for women was reduced to 60
question
2020
answer
The year that women will begin to retire at the age of 65 again to reduce the cost of pensions for them as they live on average 5 years longer than men
