Describe how political ideology influences social policy and suggest how this may affect families with young children. Give examples to explain your answer.

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Describe how political ideology influences social policy and suggest how this may affect families with young children. Give examples to explain your answer.

An ideology is quite simply about ideas. It is defined as beliefs, opinions and attitudes which when put together form a set. This set of ideas, attitudes and opinions can influence social policy. The word ideology is commonly used to describe political ideals. Each political party is described as having a particular ideology.

The type of social policy adopted by a society will have a strong influence on that society's structure, the life chances of its citizens and the way in which that society choose to regulate and allocate its resources. Firstly a society must decide what level of state intervention it finds politically, financially and socially acceptable. Secondly it will develop policy that reflects a particular model of welfare provision. Thirdly an eligibility or needs criterion is established for those who will benefit from the policy.

The concept of welfare relates to the way a society ensures the 'well being' of its citizens. A society has to decide who should be responsible for its well-being and in what circumstances. Society has to choose which needs to meet and how it will cope with social problems. Most societies use a mix of the models outlined below:

* The Residual and Selective models of welfare hold that the state should provide welfare if the individual, family or private sector are unable to do so. The state provides a 'safety net' based on a criterion of need. This criterion targets those most disadvantaged. Both Britain and the USA adopt this model but apply it in different ways.

* The Institutional model of welfare holds that welfare provision is an important function of society. The institutional welfare state aims to ensure a decent standard of living or all citizens. It is based on a belief in social equality and the redistribution of resources from those with more to those with less. Similarly the Universal model holds that services should be available to everyone as a right. Sweden and Denmark adopt a form of this model.

* The Individual Achievement model holds that social welfare is part of the economy, that social need should be met on merit and should reward performance, productivity and effort. Mrs Thatcher (Prime Minister 1979-1990) tended to adopt this view.

Compare and contrast the legislative and social policy changes that have taken place over the past fifty years in Britain; identifying differences in political ideology and particular views of the family. State how these ideas have been influential in early years care and education provision and possible consequences for the family.

Hughes and Lewis (1993) note that the post war coalition government and the newly elected Labour government of 1945 based their economic and welfare policies on a social democratic political ideology. The aims of social democracy were to achieve social equality and social improvement through social policies and the state adopting an interventionist role. Social Democracy can be identified as having 3 main ideals: social equality, social justice and equality of opportunity for everyone within society. The main objectives of Social Democratic ideology was to reduce inequality through introducing social policy and new legalisation and for the first time, the government accepted responsibility for the well being of its citizens. The government would achieve this by adopting an interventionist role by interfering in areas of health, education, work and welfare and introducing new policy. It was no longer accepted that the family should take care of its self, the state acknowledged that society was unequal and that poorer families needed help. It was hoped that this paternalistic attitude adopted by the state would produce a new sense of collective security and promote social cohesion.

Pascall (1986 p 198) citied in Muncie et al (1997) identifies 3 main features of family ideology on which she argues the Beveridge reforms were based:

. Women are available to do housework and care for dependents without pay.

2. Couples consist of one full time male breadwinner and one housewife whose work outside the home is insignificant being merely for 'pin money'.

3. Women can look to men for financial support.

In 1947 the National Assurance Act was introduced due to the fact that there was a considerable amount of single women who had been widowed throughout the war period. These women could not be dependant on a husband and so required assistance. The benefit was means tested and paid to women without husbands and those without work due to caring responsibilities, this provided a 'safety net' against destitution but was set at a low rate and as a consequence these women were amongst the poorest in the country.
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Muncie and Wetherall (1997) suggest that the ideology of the family promoted by the post war labour government constructed an ideal family type as consisting of heterosexual couple; male breadwinner, dependent wife who stays at home and looks after the dependents and their children. This ideology was strongly influenced by Bowlby's work (1951, 1953) that throughout the war had studied children who had been separated from their mothers. Bowlby argued through his maternal deprivation thesis that children who are detached from maternal care grow up to be emotionally disturbed and affectionless. Bowlby's work had a huge affect on ...

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