Charles Murray argues that the traditional nuclear family is under threat, and that the state is leading to a ‘culture of dependency’ where society finds it easier to accept benefits rather than go out to work. He also argues that there is an underclass, caused by single parenthood, consisting of people in society who live solely from benefits and make no effort to find a job or go out to work, who commit crime, become pregnant at a young age, or become truant from school or work. This also relates to the Marxist theory of the lumpenproletariat, referred to as the dangerous class. Murray argues ‘when I use the term underclass, I am indeed focusing on a certain type of poor person defined not by his condition, for example, long term unemployment, but by his deplorable behaviour in response to that condition, for example, unwilling to take jobs that are available to him’ therefore Murray is stating that the welfare state is being exploited and misused by certain people in society, and this then creates a generation of people who are socialized to do the same.
Murrays theory has faced some criticism however, with other sociological parties theories arguing that the new right ‘blames the victim’ and stigmatizes lone parent families, blaming them for problems such as unemployment and growing crime rates in young people. While functionalists agree to an extent that the nuclear family should remain the dominant family in society they disagree to an extent that modern society is undermining the values of the family, and believe that the family contributes to the needs of wider society.
The feminist sociological theory also criticises the new right way of thinking, claiming that their perspectives are outdated, and still ignore gender inequality and abuse within the family, allocation traditional gender roles and the failure to accept growing diversity within the family unit.
New right theorists argue that because of a result of growing numbers of cohabitating couples, increasing divorce rates, lone parent families and homosexual relationships, the nuclear family is losing its values and becoming the less dominant family in society. They also believe that because of this, the state has had greater financial costs imposed on to them. They believe that the government need to start cutting more welfare benefits in an attempt to reverse the decline of the nuclear family, such as cutting child benefit or unemployment benefit, so that more people are forced to work when they have the option, and lone parent families would decrease. However this theory is widely criticized. Cash more (1985) argued that often it is safer and preferable for a child to live in a lone parent family instead of living with one caring and one uncaring parent. He also argues that if single women parents live alone it gives them greater independence than they would have if the situation was different.
Marxists would see this theory as ignoring the contribution the family makes towards the interests of capitalism.
The new right doesn’t acknowledge unequal relationships in families, such as the exploitation of women, and it is intolerant and not inclusive, rejecting the idea of diversity in families, such as homosexual families, reconstituted families and unmarried parents. All these groups of people in society are condemned by the new right thinkers.
Dennis and erdos (1992) conducted a study which consequently argued that children who grow up without a father figure in their lives are more likely to make poorer life choice, have poorer health and have lower educational attainment than children who grow up in two parent families. This means that lone parent families are not an alternative to the nuclear family as there is a lack of adequate primary socialisation. They argued that boys are more likely to be affected by this due to the lack of male role model in their lives. This then leads to a generation of men who lack responsibility and leads to antisocial behaviour both in and out of the family, and may lead to their own children growing up without a father. Therefore, the new right would argue that families without fathers cost the state more in the way of benefits, health care and education costs.
In conclusion, the new right view of the family is that the nuclear family is the ideal family in society as it is more likely to cost the state less, by encouraging good primary socialisation and therefore meaning less benefits, less lone parent families, more workers and a lower crime rate.
