The United Kingdom is part of the European Union within their directives and legislations there is “The Social Chapter” this refers to parts of the treaty which deal with the equal treatment of men and women and the regulation of working time under the Working Time Directive. The UK secured an opt-out (where a country can “opt-out” of a certain legislation of the European Union) from the Social Chapter as many members of John Major’s Conservative government were opposed to extension of the EU’s competence into social areas. The issue threatened to split the Cabinet. Tony Blair abolished this opt-out immediately after coming to power in the 1997 general election. The New Right would argue that John Major and his government were right in their decision to opt-out of the Social Chapter; however feminists would say that Tony Blair was right in his decision to change this. The New Right believe that the woman’s natural role is within the household but the feminists would argue that this is a very traditional view and alienates women.
In the UK the Department Of Health provides social care for certain members of the public. The earliest Act in England to offer support was the Elizabethan Poor Law of 1601, which referred to those in need of health or domestic care and housing. This ‘care’ could include payments, food, apprenticeships or referral to a workhouse. Social care became more formalised with the creation of social work in the in the 19th century. This shift is attributed to the end of the feudal system and the rise of industrialisation, which bought greater social deprivation. It also bought a decline in the support provided by family and close-knit communities as people became more geographically mobile and moved to different areas for work.
When the Liberal Government came into power in 1906, the first means-tested pension came into force for people aged 70 and over. Further formal health and social care provision followed with the creation of the NHS and the welfare state in England in the 1940s. Many different types of benefits have been introduced over the last fifty years, many have been criticised. The New Right would say that they create a dependency culture amongst the “underclass” who become scroungers on the state. Receiving benefits from the government provide them with enough money and shelter to live, so they don’t feel the need to go out and work. They claim that the welfare state has produced a generation of “dependents” who, instead of working, rely solely upon the state for income and support
Socialists and Marxists criticize welfare state program. They say they are made by the capitalist class (Bourgeoisie) in order to divert the working class and middle class away from wanting to pursue a completely new socialist organization of economy and society. Furthermore, socialists believe it is an attempt to "patch up" the capitalist market economy and proves that capitalism does not work effectively. By the state or public ownership of the means of production, socialists believe there will be no need for a welfare state.
Another criticism is that the welfare state allegedly provides its “dependents” with a similar level of income to the minimum wage. Critics argue that fraud and economic inactivity are quite common now. The welfare state was created to provide certain people with a basic level of benefits in order to relieve poverty, but that from a New Right perspective, has been expanded to provide a larger number of people with more money than the country can afford. New Labour would argue the benefits system provides individuals with considerably less money than the national minimum wage, although people on welfare often find that they qualify for a variety of benefits, such as accommodation costs which usually make the overall benefits much higher than basic figures show.
In conclusion, social policies and laws have affected family life considerably. Turn back the clocks a century and compare the differences. You wouldn’t have openly homosexual couples, women working in an equal environment to men, pensions would have been freshly introduced, no NHS and hundreds of thousands of the poor living in slums. Changes in the law and social policy have changed this, and for the good, as many would agree.
