Synopses & Reviews
Tony Blair’s New Labour government has had a momentous impact on British family policy over the past fifteen years. It aimed to reduce poverty, improve child outcomes, and break the cycle of deprivation. In A Revolution in Family Policy, social policy analyst Clem Henricson asks whether or not these broad aspirations for general social betterment have been met. Raising important questions about the feasibility of the government’s programs, she proposes narrowing the scope of the programs to more realistic levels by focusing solely on family well-being. A stimulating, challenging, and timely debate, this book is critical reading for family and social policy analysts or anyone interested in productive social programs in this era of economic austerity.
Review
“A brilliant analysis of 'family policies' under New Labour, and of how they could and should be developed in the future.”
Review
“Reading the book would benefit everyone from the first year undergraduate through to senior academics and researchers who are unlikely to have the breadth of knowledge that Henricson possesses.”
Synopsis
This book offers a radical rethink of family policy in the UK. Clem Henricson, the family policy expert, analyses in detail the major shift in the role of the state viz a viz personal relationships in recent years, with its aspirations to reduce child poverty, increase social mobility and deliver social cohesion.Brought in by New Labour and carried forward, albeit in diluted form, by the Coalition, Henricson asks whether this philosophy of social betterment through manipulating the parent-child relationship is appropriate for family policy. She challenges the thinking behind the expectation that you can change a highly unequal society through the family route.Instead the argument is made for a family policy with its own raison d'etre, free of other government agendas. A premium is set on the need to manage the multiple core tensions in families of affection, empathy and supportiveness on the one hand and aggression, deception and self interest on the other. A set of coherent support and control polices for family relations are developed which endorse this awareness and embrace a fundamental shift in perspective for future progressive governments.
Synopsis
New Labour had a momentous impact on British family policy. In this timely book, Clem Henricson asks whether its aspirations were met, or were indeed realisable, and formulates radical proposals for the future.
About the Author
Clem Henricson is a social policy analyst, honorary senior fellow at the University of East Anglia, and member of the University of Oxford Centre for Research into Parenting and Children. She is the author of The Child and Family Policy Divide.
Table of Contents
List of abbreviations
About the author
Acknowledgements
1. Introduction
2. The changed landscape
3. What was at the root of it?
4. The legacy and the Coalition government
5. What was wrong?
6. Looking to the future
7. Conclusion: the proposal and future scenarios
References
Index