Policy Changes for Working and Single Parents

Policy Changes for Working and Single Parents Compare the way that successive governments have responded to the needs of working parents. Introduction This paper aims to compare the way that successive governments have responded to the needs of working parents. There will be a particular focus on women as working parents, particularly as there has been a focus over the last twenty years on women as single parents and their over-reliance on state benefits. The paper will begin with reference to the post-war welfare state and then move on to how both Conservative and Labour Government’s in recent years, have dealt with the issue of working parents’ needs. The Welfare State In 1942 Earnest Beveridge was concerned to combat the evils of poverty, disease and ignorance and he based his seminal report on this analysis. When the welfare state was set up one of its primary objectives was to support families by providing a range of services that would benefit families with children along with other services such as healthcare, education and housing. However, over time traditional concepts of the family with a male breadwinner, a stay at home wife and their children have changed. An ever increasing number of lone parent families has been problematic for governments during the last two decades. Lone parent families are almost always headed by a woman who has to combine childcare with work. This inevitably results in financial problems and means that lone parent families are among the poorest in the country (Moore, 2002). With lone parent families, and more married women going out to work because they are unable to manage on a single wage, there has been an increased need for a range of childcare services. The welfare state relies on the family because it provides the foundation for the provision of heal th and welfare services which is why most British social policy is based on the idea of the normal family. It was this notion that prompted Margaret Thatcher’s Government to call themselves the party of the family. This was a government where the New Right Approach to policy making became very influential. The only time that government should interfere in the corporate sector (that of the employers) was if one company had a monopoly and could control prices and access to goods. This belief in a free market economy soon became evident in Government policy making and was introduced into the health and education sectors. Privatisation was the order of the day. This was a Government which maintained that people had no automatic right to welfare. It was not the business of the state to look after you, rather people needed to learn to be responsible for their own care and their own future (Giddens, 2001). The conservatives made a distinction between those people who deserved help, people with physical or learning disabilities for example, and those who were not deserving, for example the young unemployed. These people, the Government believed were not entitled to any welfare provision. It was believed that the more the state helped some people the more they would not take responsibility and help themselves, Britain, they believed was becoming a dependency culture. Only those who were really in need should receive support and free healthcare and the rest should have to pay for it. Thus the Conservatives used means testing in an attempt to determine who was entitled to welfare and who wasn’t. Feminism and the Welfare State Feminists recognize that the welfare state has participated in advancing the cause of women’s emancipation. At the same time they recognize that the benefits paid fo lone mothers makes it difficult for them to leave violent or unsatisfactory relationships. The state tends to confine women to traditional relationships (maybe unintentionally) and to ‘women’s’ employment roles such as nursing or teaching (Moore, 2002). Feminists start from the position that men have more power in society than do women, however not all feminists are agreed in their approaches to the family and the welfare state. Thus many feminists have an ambivalent view of the welfare state and its relationship to women. Over the past twenty years feminists have written about, and critiqued, what they argue is the gendered nature of the welfare state and of Government policy making (Blackburn, 1995).[1] Blackburn (ibid) maintains that there has been a lot of important work which has challenged the ideologies that lay behind the 1942 Beveridge Report. Socialist feminists in particular were critical of the fact that women’s contribution to the war effort had been ignored. She maintains however, that rather than the Beveridge Report aiming to repress women, it was more a question of having to be mindful of the market forces in operation at that time. Pascall (1986) maintains that the underlying assumptions of the Beveridge Report were that married women would stay at home and be supported by their partners. There was no prediction of the vast number of married women who would enter the work place in the years following the Second World War. Pascall further maintains that this attitude has meant r esistant to reform and Britain tends to modify Beveridge’s findings rather than adhere to European rulings on equal opportunities. Pascall asserts that there is a need to put women in a picture that has been largely drawn by men (1986,p.6)[2]. Ideas centred on a man being able to earn enough to support a family benefited the capitalist economy and the working man at the expense of women (Barratt and Mackintosh, 1980). These writers further maintain that government policy making is still centred on the idea of a family wage. This notion is embedded in British society and has been a major reason for women’s continuing inequality with men. The idea that a man was entitled to earn a family wage but women were not has meant that women have, (and still do in a number of areas) earn less than men. Furthermore, the low pay which accompanies what is often termed ‘women’s work’ means that women’s choices are restricted and their economic powers within marriage have been reduced. Women and Policy Changes Women have been struggling to achieve equal status with men in the labour market since the late 1960s. Women’s efforts in this area saw the introduction of the Equal Pay Act in 1970. This said that women were entitled to the same pay as men if they were doing the same job. It became illegal under the Sex Discrimination Act of 1975 to discriminate against women in education, in employment, and in the provision of goods. These changes did not satisfy the European Court, which demanded a strengthening of Britain’s Equal Pay Act in 1982. There was a further amendment in 1984 which allowed that women were entitled to the same pay as men in their organizations. This rested on women being able to prove that their work involved the same kinds of decision making and skills as those carried out by men. It also meant that they should have equal access and an equal chance for promotion to that of men. Until the late 1980s girls were less likely than boys to achieve the requisite number of A levels to enter university. In recent years there have been concerns about the growing underachievement of boys compared to girls. Girls are matching or exceeding boys across the curriculum and thus there are more women entering higher education. This does not, however, give them much advantage in the job market where they are disadvantaged in comparison with males who have the same qualification levels ( Epstein, et al, 1998). Moore (2002), however, maintains that things are changing, men have more domestic responsibility than they did 20 years ago and also a much greater involvement with their children than in the past. The government has recognized this through their introduction of parental leave. In the past only mothers were entitled to such leave. Parental leaves means that both parents can take legitimate time off, but in many cases men’s leave is unpaid and so often not taken. Women in the Workplace Census figures for 1991 tend to suggest that at the time, the workforce was 47% women. Needless to say there were regional and ethnic variations and single women were more likely to be in paid work than married women. (Abbott and Tyler, 1995). maintain that this is due to the fact that women’s participation in the labour market is affected by their domestic responsibilities.Women spend time out of the labour market when they have young children and then may work part time while children are at school. Many women do not return to full employment until their children are older. There growing number of women in the workplace has resulted in more flexibility in working arrangements to accommodate that. Crompton (1997) maintains that much of this springs from the increase in the number of part-time jobs available. Millar (1993) states that flexible working may look encouraging in terms of women’s visibility in paid work, but it also means that there are more women living in poverty than ever before. Most of these women are part-time and flexible workers. The only interest such flexibility serves is that of the employer because there is a need to be more competitive and to reduce labour costs while at the same time expecting greater worker productivity (Giddens,2001). The introduction, in the 1970s, of family credit was a move to encourage more people to go back to work. Those with low paying jobs would receive payments from the state through family credit. Critics of this policy argued that although it did provide low income families with some extra money it provided no incentive for low paying employers to increase wages. Changing Policy: The Third Way New Labour came into power in 1997. They offered a ‘third way’ approach. It is really an updated model of the original welfare state with new right influences. One of its concepts is o rely on the importance of successful businesses to bring in the wealth for the rest of society and to increase employment levels. It also argues for an end to discrimination based on gender roles and on race, despite this it is still a party that holds to the concept of the traditional family. The present government promotes a more integrated approach to policy making thus the number of areas having an effect on benefits has been increased. Benefits are no longer the sole preserve of the Department for Work and Pensions, the Inland Revenue and the treasury have also become important providers with tax credit schemes being used to offer an alternative method of social protection. Family Credit was replaced by Working Families’ Tax Credits and Children’s Tax Credits in April 2001. These were meant to guarantee families a minimum weekly income.[3] New Labour have increased maternity grants, promised greater help with childcare, and believe that these methods will help bring British families out of the poverty trap (Moore, 2002). Despite these policy changes there are a number of disadvantages that parents, and particularly women, face when it comes to paid work. While some jobs are seen as offering more flexibility working part-time, Crompton (1997) argues that this can also put women at a disadvantage as it is generally lower paid, has less job security and less opportunity for promotion. Although child care arrangements do have an effect on women’s working patterns, lack of proper child care is not the only reason women do not participate more fully in the workplace. For example, while the number of women in work has continued to rise only a third of single mothers with young children are economically active (HMSO, 1999). Despite Government initiatives such as Sure Start Centres, most lone mothers may not have sufficient extra support to return to the workplace, or they may only be offered low paid work which may leave them worse off than they were on benefits. Moore (2002), however, maintains that although women have been discriminated against in policy making, things are changing, men have more domestic responsibility than they did 20 years ago and also a much greater involvement with their children than in the past. The government has recognized this through their introduction of parental leave. In the past only mothers were entitled to such leave. Parental leaves means that both parents can take legitimate time off, but in many cases men’s leave is unpaid and so often not taken. Having said this, according to the Guardian (15/12/1999) 50% of people said that the introduction of parental leave would increase their loyalty to their employers, There has been some redistribution of resources under Labour but their policies still have a lot of drawbacks. Job creation schemes have not really helped the situation and families in receipt of working tax credits can end up worse off than they were when they were unemployed. Changes in thei r hours and mistakes made by those who pay these credits has caused an uproar in the media and financial problems for many families as their money is stopped without any reason being given or any notice. Therefore such policies can be double-edged. Conclusion This paper has attempted to give some idea of the policies that relate to working parents and their children. The New Right approach was to bring in means testing and family credit and basically assume that people’s families should help them out. As such the Conservative Government of the 1980s and ‘90s did little to address the needs of working parents. New Labour on the other hand has specifically target policies at the family but some of their policy making has a double edge. Critics regard New Labour’s efforts at change as an indistinct set of policies that harks back to old labour but swings to the right in its ideology. The introduction of working family tax credit has been a double edged sword with a huge amount of overpayments. Although New Labour has attempted to introduce more and better childcare, what there is, is still insufficient and exorbitantly expensive. It might therefore be concluded that successive Governments tend to hold on to outdated notions of the family and of welfare and that these work against the interests of working families. Bibliography Abbott and Wallace, 1997 An Introduction to Sociology: Feminist Perspectives. London, Routledge Abbott and Tyler 1995 Ethnic variation in the female labour force: a research note†in British Journal of Sociology 46 pp 330-353 Allan, Graham and Crow, Graham 2001 Families, Households and Society: Basingstoke: Palgrave Barrett and Mcintosh 1980 â€Å"The family wage: Some problems for socialists and Feminists† Capitlalism and Class 11 pp51-72 Blackburn, S. 1995 â€Å"How useful are feminist theories of the welfare state† Women’s History Review 4 (3) p.369-394 Epstein et al 1998 Failing boys: Issues in Gender and Achievement Buckingham, OUP Giddens, A. 2001 4th edition. Sociology. Cambridge, Polity Press. HMSO 1999 Social Trends 29 London, HMSO Moore, S 2002 Social Welfare Alive (3rd ed) Cheltenham, Nelson Thorne Pascall, G. 1986 Social Policy: A Feminist Analysis London, Tavistock http://www.direct.gov.uk/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/BenefitsTaxCreditsAndOtherSupport/TaxCredits/fs/en 1 Footnotes [1] Blackburn, S. 1995 â€Å"How useful are feminist theories of the welfare state† Women’s History Review 4 (3) p.369-394 [2] Pascall, G. 1986 Social Policy: A Feminist Analysis London, Tavistock [3]http://www.direct.gov.uk/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/BenefitsTaxCreditsAndOtherSupport/TaxCredits/fs/en

Somputer technology Essay

In modern days, computer technology plays a significant role in our lives. It helps businesses and institutions to provide better services and faster transactions with their clients and customers. Most of the companies are using a computerized-based information system that satisfy the needs and improves the quality of their business. This information system is used to pass information throughout an organization accordingly and help them to access the files in an easy way. Technology is widely used in this generation, that is why using manual system is no longer applicable especially in storing confidential and important records and files. Unfortunately, we discover that along the little institutions like clinics, manual system were still implemented. Because of that ,we have learned that most of them suffered from different problems such as lacking of back-up records of their patients, difficulty in finding files and records, consuming time in manually listing the information of the patients and using a low technology equipment for their records such as logbooks. As a system analyst, we wanted to help a company to improve the quality of their business and solve the present problems they encountered. We have found out that Health Alert Medical and Diagnostic Center in Taytay, Rizal was encountering the said problems above in their clinic. Our aim is to provide them a computerized information system that can help them lessen patient’s waiting time and create a database that would serve as their back-up for the patient’s file and records.These system will be efficient and effective to use compare to the manual system they are using and can satisfy the needs of thier company.

‘Dancing at Lughnasa’, dramatic techniques and devices Essay

* Foreshadowing – through the use of devices (see below) or narrative; Friel often hints at what comes later in the play, sometimes sneaky – in the first dialogue for example, Chris says â€Å"When are we going to get a decent mirror to see ourselves in? † – this could be interpreted as Friel showing that the women are blind to the world around them, to their own inner trouble, and just how close their family is to the blink of collapse. It is a good line for Friel to highlight that at this moment in time, everything is as it should be and nothing has crumbled yet, but it will, and the sisters cannot foretell it. * Use of symbolic devices such as the radio (the music foreshadows events in the play, hints at backstory, usually provides a sense of what the women feel inside but cannot express on the outside, used to reference context and ultimately link the women from their microcosm in Ballybeg to the wider world) or the kites (representing escape as a pair, possibly Jack and Gerry, or, when one considers the tortured faces, a foreshadowing of Rose and Agnes’s doomed leave.) * Stage Directions – Friel’s stage directions are highly detailed and this shows that to Friel, every little character and stage detail is important, (takes the opening tableau for example. ) Each aunt has their own, very particular on stage personality, but these are certainly not 2D characters when Friel still leaves some questions unanswered to the audience – e. g; What is going on between Gerry and Agnes? Why is it that Friel wants Agnes to fly up in a passion, ‘on the point of tears’ when Kate is badmouthing Gerry, but the situation between them is never explored in more detail? It makes the false memory concept all the more interesting, as the audience can forget that this is what Michael is supposed to remember as ‘more real than incident’ and ‘both actual and illusory’. * The Unseen Boy – In ‘Dancing at Lughnasa’, the narrator is the adult Michael, and Friel chooses also to have the adult Michael reading the ‘boy’s lines, and the aunts must never address the boy. This is a surreal concept, but both helps the audience remember that the whole play is Michael’s memory; â€Å"When I cast my mind back†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ and also foreshadows Michael’s absence and escape later on in the play, or as a boy, his lack of understanding of the situation. Alternatively, it again highlights the surreal concept that Michael can remember things that may or may not have happened as he is not present in those scenes. * The False Memory – â€Å"But there is one memory of that Lughnasa time that visits me most often; and what fascinates me about that memory is that it owes nothing to fact†¦Ã¢â‚¬  The play is largely focused on Michael’s relationship with the memories of his past, as his interspersed blocks of narration illustrate, but there is the question raised that, in fact, did most of the play, where Michael isn’t present, even happen? It is all supposed to be from his memory, so how can he remember something which isn’t true? The ending sets this question further in the audience’s minds when Michael talks about a memory that truly does have no factual ground at all, and you can see elements of this seeping in throughout the play itself, (such as blasts of thirties music or referencing to historical context) and you can see it played out as if peppered with bits of memory that didn’t necessarily happen at those times or in that order. It does have a dream-like quality for these reasons, and only when we wake up do we realise something was strange – I believe this is the effect Friel intended to create for the audience. With memory, we often remember what stands out to us, not necessarily in the right order, but what Michael makes plain at the end is that his version of events is both real and imagined at the same time, and his memories become more true to feelings as they go further from the actual order of events.

Essay on Example of Evaluation Analysis for Film Studies Gcse

Through writing my pitch, I’ve learnt several things about the film industry. I’ve realised that a pitch is the very first thing we need to do before proceeding to any preproduction or production tasks and that the purpose of a pitch is to attract development finance to pay for the production of the film. Therefore, a pitch should be marketable and interesting. As pitching is commonly known as â€Å"selling the film†, there are several things I need to consider in my pitch so that it can attract the investors and they would green-light the project. Some of them include the names of actors and actresses to create star power, a brief plot synopsis, budgeting values, genre and the target audience. I’ve also included a similar film to give a†¦show more content†¦The strapline â€Å"there’s more you need to know† creates a sense of mysterious and curiosity in the readers. The strapline is coloured in black colour and black signifies myst eriousness and seriousness. For the title, I’ve used the font ‘Minion Pro’ as it is more unisex yet not so common so that it would be more appealing to older audience unlike the font ‘Curlz MT’ used in many girly or teen magazines. Posters play a very important role in the film industry. Through the production work, which required me to design and create at least three posters featuring my film, I’ve learned that the posters are one of the things needed to make a film successful. This is because they promote the film before it is released and also when the film is shown in cinemas. Most importantly, a film needs a good promotion in order to be successful. There are three types of posters: lobby cards, teaser posters and character posters. Lobby cards are like posters but they are smaller and collectible. However, they are soon replaced by teaser posters and character posters. A teaser poster is an early promotional movie poster, containing only a basic image or design without revealing too much information such as the plot, theme, and characters. They are often used to create sense of suspense and hype in the audience. In contrast, the character poster features an individual character from the film and u sually it contains the name of the actor/actress,Show MoreRelatedSociology Essay20437 Words   |  82 Pages20.05.00. Copyright  © Guardian News Media Ltd 2000; ‘Adoption boost for gay couples’, guardian.co.uk, 07.05.02. Copyright  © Guardian News Media Ltd 2002; and Anushka Asthana, ‘Religious schools â€Å"show bias for rich†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢: Middle class favoured, study shows: Faith schools deny selection claim’, The Observer, 02.03.08. Copyright  © Guardian News Media Ltd 2008; Philip Allan Updates for material from, ‘Gender differences in education: The underachievement of boys, Sociology Review, Vol. 8, Issue