New Labour, work and the family
By: DRIVER, Stephen
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Contributor(s): MARTELL, Luke.
Material type: 
ArticlePublisher: 2002Subject(s): New Labour | Política da Família | ComunidadeSocial Policy & Administration 36, 1, p. 46-61Abstract: New Labour has put support for the family at the core of its notion of the "strong community". Across a range of policy areas the Labour government can be seen to be developing a direct and explicit family policy. But what kind of community is the government trying to shape by these policies? On the on hand, Labour appears to support the family as the basis of a more moral, dutiful and cohesive commuity. On the other hand, the government has given weight to policiews that supporty social inclusion in the community through paid work. This paper examines whether there is a tension in Labour's social policies between its emphais on the importance of stable family life and the primacy given to paid work. Are critics like Ruth Levitas right when they argue that the government's emphasis on paid work devalues and is unsupportive of, unpaid work, specially caring for children and other family memebers? Alternatively, can this combination of communitarianisms-community as "stable family" and community as "paid work" - be seen to be marking out some "third way" on the family? We shall show that different aspects of the government's family policies reflect different perspectives and policy agendas within New Labour and third-way thinking more broadly. And while recognizing the tensions between work and the family, we shall suggest that they are often overstated and fail to give sufficient weight to the complementary aspects of Labour's welfare reforms
| Item type | Current location | Collection | Call number | Status | Date due | Barcode |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Periódico | Biblioteca Graciliano Ramos | Periódico | Not for loan |
New Labour has put support for the family at the core of its notion of the "strong community". Across a range of policy areas the Labour government can be seen to be developing a direct and explicit family policy. But what kind of community is the government trying to shape by these policies? On the on hand, Labour appears to support the family as the basis of a more moral, dutiful and cohesive commuity. On the other hand, the government has given weight to policiews that supporty social inclusion in the community through paid work. This paper examines whether there is a tension in Labour's social policies between its emphais on the importance of stable family life and the primacy given to paid work. Are critics like Ruth Levitas right when they argue that the government's emphasis on paid work devalues and is unsupportive of, unpaid work, specially caring for children and other family memebers? Alternatively, can this combination of communitarianisms-community as "stable family" and community as "paid work" - be seen to be marking out some "third way" on the family? We shall show that different aspects of the government's family policies reflect different perspectives and policy agendas within New Labour and third-way thinking more broadly. And while recognizing the tensions between work and the family, we shall suggest that they are often overstated and fail to give sufficient weight to the complementary aspects of Labour's welfare reforms
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