Why we established a Family Policy Group for the Social Policy Association
Late last year, a new collaborative group was launched with funding from the Social Policy Association (SPA), that aims to create a dedicated space for critical debate, discussion, and reflection on Family Policy. Initiated by Professor Anna Tarrant and Dr. Linzi Ladlow from the University of Lincoln, the group was born out of a clear need for a more structured and focused platform for engaging critically with family policy as a sub-discipline dedicated to understanding the diverse and dynamic ways that policy making intervenes in, and impacts (in)directly, on contemporary family life.
Despite significant historical contributions to the field (think the CAVA group e.g. Fiona Williams, Bren Neale, Carol Smart and many more!) and an evident appetite for collaboration among social policy scholars, discussions on family policy, we observed a lack of a dedicated forum in the SPA agenda for sustained collaborative engagement.
The group was established to ensure that critical perspectives on Family Policy – and the diverse range of policies that intersect with and shape family life – remain at the forefront of academic discourse and public debate. By providing this dedicated space, the Family Policy group seeks to foster rich, multidisciplinary exchanges and contribute to informed policymaking that responds to the diverse needs and experiences of families in all their diversity.
Why Family Policy Matters
Families provide one of the most important foundations of our lives. However families are defined, they are typically the first and most consistent source of support, providing emotional, social, and often financial stability throughout our lives. They influence our identities, well-being, and how we relate to others, and are a distinct and designated aspect that structures everyday activities and lived experiences. At the level of policy making and public debate, families are also invoked in ever more ever-intensifying ways, including being subject to increasing judgement, sanction and policy intervention.
Such interventions occur when family dynamics and structures have become ever more diverse, influenced by broader societal changes such as shifting gender roles, legal changes around divorce, economic pressures, increased migration, marriage equality and advances in reproductive technologies. These changes impact how families are formed and how they function. In return, families also shape these wider socio-historical and cultural processes. Government policies, in turn, have both direct and indirect effects on how families respond to, manage and adapt to these transformations over time.
Family Policy: A Broad Spectrum of Concerns
When we talk about family policy, we don’t necessarily refer to policies explicitly labelled as such. Family policy touches on numerous intersecting areas, including employment law, education policy, social welfare, public health, and more. Nevertheless, it is important to examine policy through a family lens to better understand how governmental decisions affect the most intimate aspects of people’s lives. Key areas of ongoing and more recent concern include caregiving, child-rearing, and work-family balance. This perspective also prompts critical questions: Are governments implementing effective programs that reduce inequality? Do policies support social mobility and promote economic stability for all families? If not, why not and what might be done to ensure that they do?
As examples, the controversial two-child benefit cap and the means-tested winter fuel allowance both directly affect families, especially those already struggling with poverty and inequality. These policies will have profound impacts on financial stability, family planning decisions, and overall well-being. Similarly, recent comments during the Conservative party leadership race, where a candidate has suggested that maternity pay in the UK is “too high”, reveal how divergent political views influence family policy and financial decision making. These remarks raise essential questions about the role of the state versus private interests in resourcing families: Who is responsible for providing care, and who finances the cost of family life?
The Family Policy Group
It is our ambition that the group ensures that family policy remains central to both academic inquiry and broader social policy discussions, ensuring it continues to evolve alongside shifting family dynamics and societal challenges.
The core group members currently meet regularly to explore recent issues, to determine its direction and to consider how we can best facilitate discussion and debate among a wider group of people with interests in family policy broadly speaking. Our current membership includes academics with related expertise, early career scholars and non-academic representatives. We also have a dedicated space at the Social Policy Association annual conference.
Join us
If you are interested in joining our network, please contact us for more information, we welcome academics and anyone who works with families and/or in practice and policy areas that intersect with family life.
Prof. Anna Tarrant atarrant@lincoln.ac.uk
Dr Linzi Ladlow: lladlow@lincoln.ac.uk