A paper said that there was unlikely to be a reversal of existing trends in people's attitudes to family formation and sexual morality. Governments should therefore support these changes by taking a more confident and positive approach to the life aspect of work-life balance. Parenting should be included as an achievement on job applications, credit should be given for apparent slow-downs in career achievement or for periods out of the work force, and pension credits should be provided for time spent engaged in part- or full-time care of children or the chronically ill. Governments should recognise that it was not marriages that provided a strong foundation for the care of children, but enduring relationships: the conditions that made these possible included supportive communities with secure and adequately paid employment and affordable housing.
Source: Hera Cook, No Turning Back: Family forms and sexual mores in modern Britain, History and Policy (web only)
Links: Paper
Date: 2003-Nov
A senior civil servant was appointed as the first 'Director General for Children and Families'. He will be responsible for leading the new Directorate formed after the transfer of children and family policy to the Department for Education and Skills in June 2003. He will provide policy advice to the Secretary of State for Education and Skills and to the Minister for Children, Young People and Families.
Source: Press release 27 October 2003, Department for Education and Skills (0870 000 2288)
Links: DfES press release | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Oct
A survey examined what parents thought would make their families' lives better or worse (at the start of a campaign to make the country more 'family friendly'). They called for extended, paid parental leave; the right to flexible working, not just the right to ask; removal of bank holidays from the four-week minimum leave entitlement; more affordable, quality childcare; a 20mph speed limit in residential areas; an extension of home zones; and an end to the 'exclusion' of older children and teenagers. The government said it supported the campaigners' objectives.
Source: Gill Keep, Making Britain Family Friendly, National Family and Parenting Institute (020 7424 3460) | Press release 23 October 2003, National Family and Parenting Institute
Links: Report (pdf) | NFPI press release 15/10 | NFPI press release 23/10
Date: 2003-Oct
An annual review (the first of a planned series) summarised child policy developments both within and across the four nations of the United Kingdom. It focused on six broad areas: the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, children s commissioners, child poverty, mental health, youth justice, and physical punishment of children.
Source: Child Policy Review 2003: Summary of key policy developments across the four nations, National Children s Bureau (020 7843 6068) for 4 Nations Child Policy Network
Links: Report (pdf) | Cover (pdf)
Date: 2003-Oct
A report summarised developments in policy relating to children and young people, and its implementation in each of the nations of the United Kingdom. It said there was a risk, when encouraging one national administration to learn from another, that politicians learned the wrong lessons.
Source: United for Children? How devolution is impacting on children's policy across the UK, NCH (020 7704 7000)
Links: Report (pdf) | Report (Welsh) (pdf) | NCH press release
Date: 2003-Sep
The government published its annual report for 2002 on action to promote the welfare of children, under the Children Act 1989. It referred to 'unprecedented activity to drive through the Government s determination to make things better for children, in particular the most vulnerable children'.
Source: The Children Act Report 2002, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2003-Sep
A report said that commonly made claims about changes in family and other intimate relations were not supported by actual research. It argued that evidence drawn on to show an increased diversity of living arrangements, such as the numbers of divorcees, lone parents and step-families, could also be used to demonstrate an enduring continuity of traditional ties, with the majority of families still composed of a heterosexual couple.
Source: Val Gillies, Family and Intimate Relationships: Review of the sociological research, Working Paper 2, Families and Social Capital ESRC Research Group/South Bank University (020 7815 5750)
Links: Report (pdf) | ESRC press release
Date: 2003-Aug
A think-tank report said that grants from a government programme designed to support marriage (the marriage and relationship support grant programme - MARS) were going to groups that had no agenda for supporting marriage, such as gay and lesbian groups, organisations providing contraception and abortion referrals for teenagers, and organisations for the divorced and separated.
Source: Nadia Martin, Marriage on MARS, Civitas (020 7401 5470)
Links: Report (pdf) | Civitas press release
Date: 2003-Aug
The government announced a new 500,000 fund, designed to help children and young people take part in conferences and events to give their views on government policies, and on services affecting them.
Source: Press release 31.7.03, Department for Education and Skills (0870 000 2288)
Links: DfES press release
Date: 2003-Jul
Responding to a report by the Children's Commissioner (published in February 2003), the Welsh Assembly Government promised a stronger voice for children in the planning and delivery of the services they received, both as individuals and collectively.
Source: Press release 24.7.03, Welsh Assembly Government (029 2082 5111)
Links: WAG press release | Children's Commissioner report (pdf)
Date: 2003-Jul
The Department for Work and Pensions published an annual report on action to promote greater involvement by children in the formulation of policy.
Source: Children and Young People s Participation in the Planning, Delivery and Evaluation of Policies and Services: 2003/4 Action plan, Department for Work and Pensions (020 7712 2171)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2003-Jul
A study explored the attitudes and perceptions of a broad range of children and young people towards emotional and mental health and mental illness, and children's views and experiences of health and social services. The study was designed to enable children's services in one area (South Gloucestershire) to establish good methods, work practices and arrangements around listening to children, so as to guarantee their continuing effective participation in service planning and delivery.
Source: Yusuf Ahmad, Jane Dalrymple, Matthieu Daum, Nikki Griffiths, Tim Hockridge and Emily Ryan, Listening to Children and Young People, Faculty of Health and Social Care/University of the West of England (0117 344 8806)
Links: Report (pdf) | Summary (pdf)
Date: 2003-Jul
A report by a children's charity analysed the impact of devolution on children's policies. It said that Scotland had 'ducked out' of radically changing children's policy, despite powers to pass primary legislation. The Welsh assembly's 'determination to do things differently' was praised - in particular, its strong lead on children's rights. In Northern Ireland, although progress had been hampered by major political disputes, there was a commitment to children's rights and child protection. The picture painted of England was one of 'incoherence and mixed results'.
Source: United for Children?, NCH (020 7704 7000)
Links: Report (pdf) | Report (Welsh) (pdf) | Community Care article | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Jul
A report examined how much was spent on services impacting on the 700,000 children living in Wales. Spending on health, education and housing was higher in Wales than in England: but social services expenditure per child was lower. Between 1996-97 and 2000-01 spending per head on these services rose by about 8 per cent in Wales, less than in England.
Source: Tom Sefton, A Child's Portion: Public spending on children in Wales, Save the Children in Wales (029 2034 5224)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2003-Jul
A think-tank report said that successive governments failure to develop credible family policy had led to poor levels of support for parents during pregnancy and after the birth of their child. It called for home visitor schemes, where experienced parents gave support to others, to be made nationally available; for a 'pregnancy premium' and more financial support for large families to help tackle child poverty; for higher maternity and paternity pay, and the introduction of paid parental leave; for children s centres to be established in every community; and for the work of midwives and health visitors to be transformed to provide greater social and emotional support to parents.
Source: Lisa Harker and Liz Kendall, An Equal Start?: Improving support during pregnancy and the first 12 months, Institute for Public Policy Research, available from Central Books (0845 458 9911)
Links: IPPR press release | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Jun
Margaret Hodge was appointed to the new post of Minister for Children, reporting to the Secretary of State for Education and Skills. One children's charity welcomed the appointment as a fresh start in the drive towards creating childcare for all children and families . But there were calls for her resignation because of alleged failings in her handling of child abuse cases in council care homes when leader of Islington Borough Council in London in the 1980s. At the same time as her appointment, overall responsibility for policy for children was brought together under one department (the DfES).
Source: Press release 13.6.03, Department for Education and Skills (0870 000 2288) | Press release 13.6.03, Daycare Trust (020 7840 3350) | BBC news report 30.6.03
Links: DfES press release | Guardian report (1) | Guardian report (2) | Guardian report (3) | BBC news report | Daycare Trust press release
Date: 2003-Jun
A new book argued that economic theories of the family can help guide and structure empirical analyses of demographic and related phenomena, such as labour supply, child support, and returns to education - on the premise that standard analytical methods of microeconomics can help an understanding of resource allocation and the distribution of welfare within the family.
Source: John Ermisch, An Economic Analysis of the Family, Princeton University Press (01243 842165)
Links: Summary
Date: 2003-Jun
A review looked at the relationship between different areas of policy-making relating to parenthood. It said that there is no overarching statement on government's expectations of parents, or on the relative roles of parents and the state in supporting children; and it pointed to a 'fundamental tension' between state support for parents and the autonomy needed for parents to willingly shoulder caring responsibilities. It suggested two possible complementary approaches to clarifying parents' rights and responsibilities - a regular, in-depth policy review by government to establish broad principles, and a parents' code setting out rights and responsibilities.
Source: Clem Henricson, Government and Parenting: Is there a case for a policy review and a parents code?, York Publishing Services for Joseph Rowntree Foundation, available from York Publishing Services Ltd (01904 431213)
Links: JRF Findings 333
Date: 2003-Mar
A think-tank report attacked the Church of England leadership for failing to take responsibility for falling church attendances, and for abandoning 'traditional' Christian teaching on marriage and relationships.
Source: Called to Account: The case for an audit of the failing Church of England, Social Affairs Unit (020 7637 4356)
Links: Guardian report
Date: 2003-Feb
A think-tank report said that children have become invisible citizens whose lives are increasingly controlled by over-protective adults. It accused children's charities of arousing unjustified public fears about risks to children's safety, and at the same time of suggesting that there are easy solutions to problems of child abuse.
Source: Gillian Thomas and Gina Hocking, Other People s Children: Why their quality of life is our concern, Demos, available from Central Books (020 8986 5488)
Links: Press release | Introduction (pdf)
Date: 2003-Feb
A report presented findings from the third year of a survey of British families with children (the 'Families and Children Study'). It examined trends in family structure, employment, receipt of benefits and tax credits, and child support.
Source: Alan Marsh and Jane Perry, Family Change 1999 to 2001, Research Report 180, Department for Work and Pensions (0113 399 4040)
Links: Report (pdf) | DWP press release | PSI press release
Date: 2003-Jan