The Prime Minister said that the government had a role to play in promoting strong families, and that no family should be beyond help. The government was committed to offering 'practical and modern' support to families facing 'multiple pressures' such as worklessness, and alcohol and drug problems. The Prime Minister announced a pilot scheme under which families that were under particular strain would be helped through a system of regular, personalized support. The pilot would be led by Emma Harrison (head of a private work-scheme contractor), who would also take on the role of 'family champion' within government.
Source: Speech by David Cameron MP (Prime Minister), 10 December 2010
Links: Text of speech | Downing Street press release | DE press release | Sun article | Conservative Party press release | Labour Party press release | Christian Institute report | NFM press release | Relationships Foundation press release | Community Care report | Children & Young People Now report | BBC report
Date: 2010-Dec
A new book examined the roles that households played in securing the well-being of individuals and families, highlighting the uneven experiences of men and women as both providers and receivers of welfare in European households.
Source: Tindara Addabbo, Marie-Pierre Arrizabalaga, Cristina Border as and Alastair Owens, Gender Inequalities, Households and the Production of Well-Being in Modern Europe, Ashgate Publications
Links: Summary
Date: 2010-Dec
A new textbook examined key topics within the study of family lives.
Source: Jane Ribbens McCarthy and Rosalind Edwards, Key Concepts in Family Studies, SAGE Publications
Links: Summary
Date: 2010-Dec
An article examined Conservative Party policy and rhetoric on social and moral issues, particularly gay rights and family policy. It noted that a significant divide remained in the Conservative Party between 'social liberals' and 'traditionalists': in this respect Cameron's modernization project remained far from complete.
Source: Richard Hayton, 'Conservative Party modernisation and David Cameron's politics of the family', Political Quarterly, Volume 81 Issue 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2010-Nov
An article examined the use of the concept of 'family' across a number of interrelated social policy streams. The efficacy of familial approaches was considered through a feminist ethic of care approach that questioned both gendered and generational assumptions about families in practice.
Source: Lesley Murray and Marian Barnes, 'Have families been rethought? Ethic of care, family and "whole family" approaches', Social Policy and Society, Volume 9 Issue 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2010-Oct
The coalition government announced (in its 2010 Spending Review) that non-schools spending by the Department for Education would be cut by 12 per cent in real terms by 2014-15. There would be a reduction in the percentage of childcare costs that people could recover through the working tax credit from 80 per cent to 70 per cent. Couples with children would have to work for at least 24 hours per week between them in order to be eligible for the working tax credit (rather than at least one working 16 hours). But there would be an increase in the child element of working tax credit above indexation by a further £30 in 2011-12 and £50 in 2012-13 (in addition to the £150 and £60 increases announced in the 'emergency' June 2010 Budget). Clawback of child benefit for families with someone paying the higher rate of income tax (announced earlier in October 2010) would affect 1.5 million families, rather than the 1.2 million originally thought – with the estimated savings from the measure increasing from £1 billion to £2.5 billion (from 2013 onwards).
Source: Spending Review 2010, Cm 7942, HM Treasury/TSO
Links: Report | Summary | Hansard | HMT press releases | Action for Children press release | CLS press release | CPAG press release | Daycare Trust press release | ECP press release | Employers for Childcare press release | 4Children press release | NCB press release | NCMA press release | NCT press release | Working Families press release | Children & Young People Now report (1) | Children & Young People Now report (2) | Community Care report (1) | Community Care report (2) | Guardian report | Nursery World report
Date: 2010-Oct
A commission report examined the complex realities of modern-day families, how they managed in a changing world, and what the state could and should be doing to help them – including the areas of housing, financial support, childcare and eldercare, and social services. It call for a new 'contract' between the state and families that recognized that families were assets not burdens. Families held many of the answers and solutions that people were looking for – if they only had the help needed to harness them. It recommended a 'strengths based' approach to family support that intervened early to prevent crises. It also called for an extension of children's centres to include the extended family and older children.
Source: Family Commission, Starting a Family Revolution: Putting families in charge, 4Children
Links: Report | 4Children press release | Community Care report | WorkingMums Magazine report | Nursery World report
Date: 2010-Oct
The fourth report was published from the Millennium Cohort Study. The fourth survey collected information from around 14, 000 children born in 2000-2002 across the United Kingdom. It was conducted when most of the children were aged 7, in 2008, following previous sweeps at 9 months, age 3, and age 5. One-fifth of the children lived in 'severe poverty' with both parents together receiving less than half the average national income.
Source: Kirstine Hansen, Elizabeth Jones, Heather Joshi and David Budge (eds.), Millennium Cohort Study Fourth Survey: A user's guide to initial findings, Centre for Longitudinal Studies/University of London
Links: Report | CLS press release (1) | CLS press release (2) | CLS press release (3) | CLS press release (4) | CLS press release (5) | CLS press release (6) | CLS press release (7) | CLS press release (8) | CLS press release (9) | NatCen press release | BBC report (1) | BBC report (2) | Telegraph report (1) | Telegraph report (2) | Guardian report
Date: 2010-Oct
Two linked reports provided an overview of approaches taken by local authorities in England to the assessment of families experiencing multiple and complex difficulties. They also examined the 'whole family assessment' processes developed by individual areas, and some of the positive outcomes linked to taking a family-focused approach.
Source: Sally Kendall, John Rodger and Helen Palmer, The Use of Whole Family Assessment to Identify the Needs of Families with Multiple Problems, Research Report RR045, Department for Education | Sally Kendall, John Rodger and Helen Palmer, Redesigning Provision for Families with Multiple Problems: An assessment of the early impact of different local approaches, Research Report RR046, Department for Education
Links: Report RR045 | Report RR046
Date: 2010-Oct
An article examined models and approaches to family-based policy and service provision for those at risk of social exclusion. Some approaches sought to strengthen the ability of family members to offer support to a primary service user within that family. In the case of other approaches, family members were recognized as having their own specific and independent needs arising out of their relationship with the primary service user. A third category included 'whole family approaches' focused on shared needs and strengths that could not be dealt with through a focus on family members as individuals.
Source: Nathan Hughes, 'Models and approaches in family-focused policy and practice', Social Policy and Society, Volume 9 Issue 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2010-Oct
An article examined the background to 'whole family' approaches. These approaches often resulted in families with care and protection needs being caught in a conflicting set of policy and practice expectations.
Source: Kate Morris and Brid Featherstone, 'Investing in children, regulating parents, thinking family: a decade of tensions and contradictions', Social Policy and Society, Volume 9 Issue 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2010-Oct
The report was published of a conference (held in July 2010) that was designed to provide a forum for discussion of family policy, in the context of the new government and of the prevailing economic climate.
Source: Family Policy and the New Government: The 2010 conference – Full report, Family and Parenting Institute
Links: Children & Young People Now report
Date: 2010-Sep
A new book examined the tensions between rights-based and welfare-based approaches to the regulation of family life. A central concern was the 'gender-blind' character of rights-based approaches, and the ontological and practical consequences of their use in the gendered context of the family.
Source: Julie Wallbank, Shazia Choudhry and Jonathan Herring (eds.), Rights, Gender and Family Law, Routledge
Links: Summary
Date: 2010-Sep
A report examined the connexion between social class and parenting. It looked at how widening class inequalities had affected family life and parenting practices; and it investigated class perceptions in policy and family support practice.
Source: Martina Klett-Davies (ed.), Is Parenting a Class Issue?, Family and Parenting Institute
Links: Summary
Date: 2010-Sep
An audit report reviewed the data systems used to support delivery of the Labour government's public service agreement 14 – to 'increase the number of children and young people on the path to success' – over the period from 2008.
Source: Review of the Data Systems for Public Service Agreement 14, National Audit Office
Links: Report
Date: 2010-Jun
The new Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government announced the creation of a taskforce to look at ways to support families and give every child a fair start in life.
Source: Speech by Nick Clegg MP (Deputy Prime Minister), 17 June 2010
Links: Text of speech | Daily Mail article | 4Children press release | Family Commission press release | Relationships Foundation press release | Children & Young People Now report | BBC report | Community Care report
Date: 2010-Jun
A think-tank report said that it was doubtful whether the programmes in the Children's Plan (published by the Labour government in December 2007) could ever achieve the high ambitions set out for them: most were flawed both in concept and in practice. It called for an alternative approach under which local authorities would be given the discretion to implement and fund the programmes, thereby cutting spending on them by £1.9 billion a year.
Source: Tom Burkard and Tom Clelford, Cutting the Children's Plan: A £5 billion experiment gone astray, Centre for Policy Studies
Links: Report | Children & Young People Now report
Date: 2010-Jun
A new book examined the underlying political and social aims of the former Labour government's 'Every Child Matters' agenda.
Source: Catherine Simon and Stephen Ward, Does Every Child Matter? Understanding New Labour's social reforms, Routledge
Links: Summary
Date: 2010-Jun
A think-tank paper examined the distribution of 'couple penalties and premiums' in the tax and benefit system – changes in entitlements to benefits and tax credits and in liability to taxes that occurred when two single people married, or started to live together as husband and wife. It concluded that most people would receive more financial support from the state if they were single (or told the authorities they were single) than if they were married or part of a cohabiting couple.
Source: Stuart Adam and Mike Brewer, Couple Penalties and Premiums in the UK Tax and Benefit System, Briefing Note 102, Institute for Fiscal Studies
Links: Briefing Note | IFS press release | Gingerbread press release
Date: 2010-Apr
An article examined the policies of the opposition Conservative party on poverty, the family, and welfare reform. While welcoming the Conservatives' recognition of poverty and inequality as problems, it said that the party's approach depended on assertions about the importance of family structure and a presumed culture of 'welfare dependency' that were not supported by the available evidence – as well as being characterized by a determination to downplay the effects of structural and economic factors, and the role and responsibility of government.
Source: Ruth Lister and Fran Bennett, 'The new "champion of progressive ideals"? Cameron's Conservative Party: poverty, family policy and welfare reform', Renewal, Volume 18 Number 1
Links: Article
Date: 2010-Apr
A think-tank report proposed a conceptual framework that would help policy-makers understand and analyze the potential impact of policy on people's motivation and opportunity to form and strengthen committed family relationships, discharge responsibilities pertaining to family relationships, and conduct relationships in a way that enhanced the well-being of the family. It also considered the impact of policy on the support that people needed and received for these relationships.
Source: David Wong, Towards a Conceptual Framework for Family Proofing Policy: Understanding the key domains and critical levers of influence, Relationships Foundation
Links: Report
Date: 2010-Apr
A paper examined the manifesto proposals of the three main political parties in respect of families with children, including: taxes, benefits, and tax credits for families with children; abolishing the 'couple penalty' in the tax credit system; parental leave, pay, and flexible working; and childcare, early years education, and education.
Source: Mike Brewer and Ellen Greaves, Families and Children, Briefing Note 103, Institute for Fiscal Studies
Links: Briefing Note
Date: 2010-Apr
A think-tank report called for the 'family proofing' all public policy. Policy should create an environment that promoted and sustained strong family relationships rather than undermining them.
Source: Progressive Families, Progressive Britain: Why Britain needs family proofing of policy, Relationship Foundation
Links: Report | Relationship Foundation press release
Date: 2010-Mar
A report examined what high-quality research could provide for policymakers in relation to family policy. It considered the interface between science and policy; research on family structure, break-up, and reconstitution; non-parental care; individuals' variable response to environmental hazards; life stressors, such as illness or divorce; abuse, neglect, and bullying; institutional deprivation; drug use; the risks and protective effects that derived from communities and social groups; and preventive interventions around family dysfunction and poor parenting.
Source: Social Science and Family Policies, British Academy
Links: Report | British Academy press release | ISER press release
Date: 2010-Mar
A survey found that most people did not feel that public services were sufficiently 'family friendly'. 81 per cent of respondents also thought that politicians did not understand the reality of their family life.
Source: Building a Blueprint for Supporting British Families, Family Commission/4Children
Links: Report | Family Commission press release | Children & Young People Now report | Local Government Chronicle report | Guardian report | Telegraph report | BBC report
Date: 2010-Feb
A new book examined the part played by the law in defining, structuring, and controlling the relationship between the family and society.
Source: Michael Freeman, Family Values and Family Justice, Ashgate Publications
Links: Summary
Date: 2010-Feb
The opposition Conservative Party published the family policy section of its draft election manifesto. It said that strong families and the relationships they fostered were the 'bedrock on which society is built'. It outlined plans for a new system of flexible parental leave that let parents share maternity leave; more health visitors to support new parents; and recognizing and encouraging marriage through the tax system.
Source: Making Britain More Family-Friendly, Conservative Party
Links: Manifesto section | Conservative Party press release | Contact a Family press release
Date: 2010-Jan
A think-tank report said that the government had become indifferent to the institution of marriage, and that in so doing it had damaged society. The report set out a blueprint for supporting and strengthening families. It repeated a previous call to allow transferable tax allowances for married couples, but said that they should initially be limited (for reasons of cost) to married couples with children under the age of three.
Source: The Centre for Social Justice Green Paper on the Family, Centre for Social Justice
Links: Report | CPAG press release | Guardian report | Children & Young People Now report | New Start report
Date: 2010-Jan
The government published a Green Paper on family policy. It set out a package of measures designed to support families, help to prevent and resolve marriage and relationship breakdown, support and recognize the role of fathers and grandparents, improve flexible working for families, and give more targeted support to families in need. It also proposed a major review into the family justice system, designed to reduce conflict and promote earlier resolution of problems.
Source: Support for All: The families and relationships Green Paper, Cm 7787, Department for Children, Schools and Families/TSO
Links: Green Paper | Hansard | DCSF press release | GEO press release | MOJ press release | Childrens Society press release | NCT press release | Contact a Family press release | Centrepoint press release | TUC press release | Liberal Democrats press release | FPI briefing | BBC report | Community Care report | New Start report | BBC report | Guardian report | Children & Young People Now report (1) | Children & Young People Now report (2) | Children & Young People Now report (3) | Children & Young People Now report (4) | Children & Young People Now report (5) | Personnel Today report
Date: 2010-Jan
The British Social Attitudes survey found that people in Britain were generally tolerant of non-traditional family arrangements. Just 14 per cent disapproved of cohabitation. But 38 per cent disapproved of a mother with a young child working full time.
Source: Eric Harrison and Rory Fitzgerald, 'A chorus of disapproval? European attitudes to non-traditional family patterns', in British Social Attitudes: The 26th Report, SAGE Publications
Links: Summary | NatCen press release | Guardian report
Date: 2010-Jan