What are the implications for social policy of the changes which have occurred in the structure and dynamics of the family in the last 30yrs?

The first 200 words of this essay...

What are the implications for social policy of the changes which have occurred in the structure and dynamics of the family in the last 30yrs?

The implication for social policy as a result of the changing face of the 'family' has been enormous. In order to evaluate them adequately, I shall look at 4 main transitory factors which have had, and are continuing to have, implications for social policy, specifically within Europe. These are: Downward trend in marriages, the rise in single parent/lone parent families, increasing participation of women in the workforce and their consequent economical success, and the incessantly declining rate of fertility.

The notion of family thirty years ago was relatively simple. A married couple, two children, an extended family in the form of grandparents and even a pet were seen as constituting the norm. One of the main factors that influenced the fragmentation of this image, in Britain at least, was the introduction of The Divorce Reform Act in 1969 (Glennester, pg 163). The immediate period after the introduction of this law, brought on by considerable pressure from feminists in the 1960s period of liberalism, witnessed a sudden influx in the number of