Outline and evaluate the view that uk government policies support the traditional family values. [33]

In Post-Fordist uk, David Cameron is a New Right politician but has inherited policies from the labour government under Tony Blair. Blair encouraged diversity and passed many laws which gave rights to same sex, single parents and cohabiters. In principle Cameron supports traditional family values. New Right want us to live in nuclear families as socialisation for children is the best for children in society. However many policies are currently in force which do not support traditional family values e.g. same sex marriage.
At this moment in time in the uk, we have many different benefit systems which entitle families to extra allowances depending on their situation. Most common is child allowance. This is £20.30 a week given to children which gives them more chance of having basic needs such as clothing and shelter and warmth and also improving their lifestyles. This was introduced after The Second World War and has been in place ever since. Despite family allowance being reduced in February 2013, 85% of children will still receive the benefits.
Next we have the educational system. New Right sociologists value education as they believe that education progresses society. The Government ensure that all 3 year olds have a place in nursery and that children now must stay in some sort of education until the age of 18. Bourdieu called this ‘deferred gratification’. They aim to reduce unemployment and benefit fraud by introducing this law as it means that there will be a massive reduction in the amount of people claiming benefits, as a high proportion of those people will now be in education. In total, this will reduce NEET’S – Not in Employment, Education of Training. There are currently over 2 million NEETS in the uk, this is a worrying figure to New Right sociologists such as Norman Dennis as he says that people without education are a threat to society and are prone to societies problems such as crimes, addictions and drugs. Charles Murray called this the New Rabble.
However, our current government still supports diversity of families just like it did after the war. There hasn’t been much change and Labours approach to family diversity is still being encouraged in post modern Britain. The government support same sex marriages and single parents by giving them benefits which help them raise and socialise children. The government introduced The Child Support Agency, which was an agency which ensured that parents (usually fathers) pay maintenance for their children with whom they no longer live with. Although this meant that there was a sufficient income for single parents, many unhappy spouses would use this as a pull factor to divorce as they would no longer have to rely on the other partner for sustainable economic support. Due to this government policy, divorce rates are on the rise. This proves that our current government are not supporting the traditional nuclear family, they are encouraging diversity still. Feminist would love this as they no longer have to be married to have a sustainable income. If they are struggling for money they can receive benefits which will boost their money and make raising children easier and they no longer have to be in what they believe is patriarchal marriages.
In conclusion I would say that the current uk government support the traditional nuclear family to an extent however it is clear that they encourage and support diversity more. Purely down to the fact that more benefits are given to single parents, same sex couples and people who have low incomes than the actual traditional nuclear family.