Key Issues in Social Policy - Essay Example

?Running Head: Key Issues in Social Policy Key Issues in Social Policy [Institute’s Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Introduction 3 Discussion of Social Policy 3 Feminist Critique to Social Policies’ Comparative Studies 6 Conclusion 14 References 16 Introduction Since the world came into existence, the social aspect of humanity that consist of the human wellbeing, safety and welfare has been the concern, which has come under numerous arguments, quarrels, and disputes. Even after the world has crossed the threshold of twenty first century with numerous advancements in various sectors, yet the social distress is a concern on a continuous basis. However, the nations of the world are working and developing rules, regulations, and guidelines that can serve the welfare of the denizens of the society so that the communities are in a much better position to succeed and become prosperous. Besides, the government of the countries develops and upgrades the social policies with respect to the time and civilizations in order to maintain and sustain the wellbeing of the citizens (Hill & Irving, 2009, pp. 1-4). Since the social policy is one of the significant concerns in the current times with feminist critiques to great extent, therefore, research thesis statement would “analyze and discuss feminist critiques of comparative studies in social policy.” Discussion of Social Policy Social policy principally takes account of the guidelines, rules, principles, legislation and other activities that leave a positive, constructive, and beneficial effect to the human living conditions and their welfare. Social policy is a small element of the overall public policy dealing and handling the common, societal, and even depraved problems of the civilians of the country (Beland, 2010, pp. 9-13). The government develops the social policy so that they can bring value to the lives of the inhabitants and meet their essential needs including education, physical healthiness, shelter, income safeguarding, and social securities. Moreover, the issues related to poverty, old age, disability and family policy are also a significant part of the social policy. Therefore, the social policies cover the vast areas of social safety or protection, environmental plans, retirement funds, healthcare, social concern, child security, housing or shelter, social segregation, education policies, crime, criminal justice and several others (Barusch, 2011, pp. 1-3). Another aspect of social policy has come under observation that while the government constitutes the social policy to meet the basic needs of the people including the food, health, housing, education, employment and various others, the low-income group is under substantial consideration. They aim to facilitate the poor and deprived people of the society to make their circumstances better in order to have the overall welfare of the country (Baldock, Manning & Vickerstaff, 2007, pp. 5-9). The guidelines of social policy come under designing, alteration, and preservation for creating conducive living conditions to the human welfare. Each country design and regulate the social policies with respect to issues that have been encountered in the past. For instance, the aspects of sexuality and mortality are additional segments of the social policies that the UK governs (Baldock, Manning & Vickerstaff, 2007, pp. 5-9). According to few of the perspectives, social policy has come under vision as the conventional structure of the boarder perspectives of political and economical policies of the states. With respect to the change in time and social issues, the contemporary time also covers, and administers the issues such as abortion policies, marriage, divorce, adoption, euthanasia, poverty, homelessness, and various others. Furthermore, the religious beliefs of the political bodies also govern and persuade the designing of the social policies (Kennett, 2004, pp. 91-94). The history of the social policy expose the fact that it dates back to several centuries and does not come under application as a new set of actions that thinks about the wellbeing of the members of a particular society. In addition, the practicing of social policy reflects the notion that Muslim community comes under consideration as the preliminary district that are involved for the human welfare. According to the records, pension institution, income support, child benefits, and various other aspects came under observation for the public welfare. However, as time passed by, the complications and intricacies came to witness within the nations that made the subject matter of social policy very multifaceted. One cannot ignore the fact that social policy comes under profound influence of the political factor of the countries (Blakemore & Griggs, 2007, pp. 5-9). The social policies leave a massive impact on to the lives of the populace of the globe. This is because the social policies come under development that focuses on every aspect of the life of an individual on how to improve the lives and living conditions of the local people of the community and society. Social policies also assess and study the policy processes in both the historical and current framework, which mean that how the policies come under development, shaping, and implementation. This study directs the government to design the social policies that can regulate and govern the current and future welfare of the human beings (Hill, 2006, pp. 4-9). Social issues arise and happen when the social policies or legislations have come under inadequate considerations by the government of a realm that may have adverse impact on to the individuals of the society and their welfare. Social policy issues have come under vast and extensive arguments, quarrels and disputes with regard to the impact that it leaves on to the members of a society. However, pivotal query comes under association with the social policy issue that does the small group of the community particularly belonging to the minority group or the oppressed group fall under an unbalanced impact of the policy, law, or principles in comparison to the other individuals. Nevertheless, it has come under observation that social policy issues have a powerful impact and can leave a drastic and far-reaching impact to all the denizens of the particular society (Bochel, 2009, pp. 25-30). Feminist Critique to Social Policies’ Comparative Studies Social policy has come under numerous studies and investigations that lay key emphasis on to the societal groups and individuals who are vulnerable and deprived of the necessities that comes under consideration while defining the social policy. Unemployment, women's status in the society, rights and role of single mother in UK, child care and nurturing, increasing unemployment rate, elderly nourishment, poverty, homelessness, and so forth are few of the grave social issues has come under emphasis in various research and feminist critique to the research is widely available (Bochel, 2005, pp. 5-9). Feminists’ wants to bring the social policy issues to the forefront and comment on to the social policies because even in the contemporary world of today where the human beings with their extraordinary capabilities and competence have reached the heights of advancements and innovations in numerous facets of the world. Yet the women of the society still possess the same role as she acquire centuries ago and is the vulnerable and deprived entity of amongst the masses. In fact, with the connection of the sociopolitical, economic, health, and psychological aspects scores of social problems have come under emergence. This includes the increasing domestic violence, female abuse and harassment, increased unemployment rates, limited options for health care especially for fragile elderly people, minority women being exposed to lethal diseases, increased risk of poverty, lack of educational facility, overworking women and underpaid wages and numerous others (Alcock, May & Wright, 2012, pp. 83-86). While taking about the feminist approach to social policy, one cannot neglect and disregard the fact that in the male dominant society, the women does not hold much power and liberty to live her life the way she wants. The women in general has at all times comes under consideration as the caretaker of the house, upbringing of children and responsible for doing all the domestic work as her social function regardless of the society, community, culture or religion and she is an unpaid employee of the society (Sloane, 2002, pp. 163-164). While on the other hand, the male counterpart is the breadwinner for the family and comes under supposition to look after the financial matters of the family. Although the role of women in the contemporary society has changed, yet she does not possess the same value as men and does not get equal opportunity in the labor marketplace. The feminist approach and critique with regard to social policy has many imperative aspects, which needs to come under deep thought and consideration in order to understand the social problems faced by the female members of the society, which must contemplate by the government in designing the social policies (Mooney, 2011, pp. 244-245). The primary aspect of social policy issue is of gender and social provision, which has come to notice that according to the feminist analysis of family and social policies, they have accentuated the fact that family structure actually consist of men as husband, women as wife and children. However, according to the generalist opinions, the role of women has continued from past times until the date as the most informal custodian and caretaker of not only the children but also the elderly dependents without being paid (Ramon & Monk, 1996, pp. 89-92). The feminist approach shed light on one of the essential factors that has come under discussions from the analysis, which states the relationship of women as contributor to the welfare and the women as client of the welfare structure. Moreover, the role of women as paid contributors and unpaid contributors of the welfare is another fundamental aspect that has come under limelight by the feminist critiques. The gender and its role are central as it facilitates in the recognizing and identifying the welfare of the systems (Ramon & Monk, 1996, pp. 89-92). The feminist standpoint argues that all the resources such as education, income, employment and various others are biased and genders have preference over these resources. The study of social policy development for instance the equality and citizenship has a profound impact of the resources. In addition, the gendered approach demonstrates the government of UK strongly adheres to the fact that the father or the male counterpart has the primary function of the breadwinner and the women (wife) are responsible for in the family that consists of parents and children or even the adult dependents. However, the wives come under supposition to take the place as the breadwinners only under severe conditions of being single mothers. Feminist also reveals that as the world has penetrated into the twenty first century, the role of women has shifted and they have stepped into the world of paid employee that act as providers to the welfare, yet the conventional work of women as the caretaker would always stick with the women's work (Ramon & Monk, 1996, pp. 89-92). Feminists presented the actuality that the latter half of the twentieth century witnessed a significant modification for the married women and single mothers (without children) in the direction of increased hope and reliance on the labor market. This shift also glimpsed the dependence of the single mothers with children towards the state. Feminists also assess critically that due to the division based on the gender exists, women have to perform the mainstream work as unpaid tasks or responsibility, while the males enjoy the sexual segregation in employment. Furthermore, the women have to count on their wages as well as their opposite partner as a mean of support, while the lone mothers have to rely on state and earnings (Melby, Ravn & Wetterberg, 2009, pp. 6-11). However, in the case of lone mothers in UK, they came under reflection as the social threats rather than social issue during the latter half of the twentieth century. Although the lone mothers were deemed as, problems in the first instance because they were single mother with children and had no support of their male counterparts. The government thought that the socialization of such children would come under distress, thus they considered them as threat to the society. However, with the change in the social policy, women came under treatment as workers. The single mothers came under sanction to receive benefit without employment until their children reached a particular age (Boje, 2000, pp. 213-215). This elucidates the position and role of the single parent (mother) with reference to the paid or unpaid work, which has close relationship to the regimes of wellbeing of the citizens. Even though the single mothers have come under permission to obtain employment in the labor market, yet the involvement percentage of the labor market of UK indicates that married mothers get much more benefit and are significantly different in comparison to the single and lone mothers (Boje, 2000, pp. 213-215). The feminist critiques to the social policies related to the single mothers exhibits the idea that the position of the single mothers are yet difficult and complex, as much importance to the social policy has not come under determination that influence the labor market behaviors. This is because the single mothers come under obligation to have their income package from sources such as men, labor market, or the state. However, this process has considerable difference from one country to another. According to scores of feminists, the single mothers do not have any liberation and they are trapped by the state for having benefits from them. However, according to them, for single mothers, it is better to have dependence upon the state, rather than having dependency upon an individual counterpart (male). This is because individual patriarchy leaves a more deteriorating impact concerning the social and political contribution (Boje, 2000, pp. 213-215). Feminist also highlights the issue in the social policy that in order to understand truly, the role of the women as client in the welfare system, it is indispensable to materialize the relationship between paid work, unpaid work, and welfare. Additionally, the women's position as providers of the welfare has come under well comprehension and elicit from the temperament of the mixed economy of the welfare. The notion of paid work, unpaid work and the wellbeing that is gendered has come under explanation by the feminists such that the large number of female members of the society has penetrated into the labor market. Yet they fall short and they are paid less in their wages, positions, and working hours in contrast to the male members (Daly, 2000, pp. 217-219). The feminists of various parts of the world including that of UK has provided adequate evidence that proves very little alterations have come under performance with reference to the social policies for the women working on a full-time basis. Even though UK has experienced and observed a huge increase in the labor market of the women segmentation, yet the gender division concerning the unpaid work has not come under major changes (Daly, 2000, pp. 217-219). The feminist analysis and review expose the piece of information that from the historical perspectives, women was able to achieve and benefit from the social entitlements due to the value the possessed (as dependent upon the male partner) within the family. However, with the passage of time, women made substantial contributions to the welfare system through their husbands, in association to the family model of the breadwinner. This can come under well explanation from the example that ‘working mother’, which never existed in the history of the English language came under addition to the English language in the later part of the twentieth century. However, employment and earning salaries has always been the auxiliary and subsidiary action in the life of the women (Sainsbury, 1999, pp. 15-20). The feminist approach also demonstrate the information that independence according to the modern and contemporary society means that an individual has the leverage to enjoy his or her independence originating from the salary the individual is earning. This means that women only have partial benefit of individualism and liberty, as she is dependent upon her husband and the male supports their female counterparts. Nonetheless, with regard to the social policies, the political citizenship means the male heads of the family (Sainsbury, 1999, pp. 15-20). The studies and researches have materialized the fact that modern wellbeing regimes has come under variation between countries and the conventional assumption of the idea that females must be dependent to male have come under re-consideration. For instance, in few of the European nations, the occupational structure differs to that of the customary structure, and due to few sectors such as agriculture, the role of women has shifted and they tend to have achieved more entitlements as wives, mothers, and paid workers (Sainsbury, 1999, pp. 15-20). From the critical evaluation of the feminists on to the social policy, one critical element has come under recognition with reference to the difference of experience of males and females. According to the feminine approach, men and women both have different and dissimilar set of experiences and both the experiences must come under equal value, rather than overvaluing ones’ experiences and undervaluing others (Kelleher, Severin & Khaahloe, 2012, pp. 8-12). Since the females have been the vulnerable entities, thus little attention was paid to the developmental lifestyle of the females. According to a general assumption, all the development of the child came under reflection with the male parent. However, the feminist have elucidated the information that both the male and female child has differences in the relationship patterns with the parents, which develops the behavioral actions in them. Nevertheless, it has come to notice that quite a few feminist theorists assert that the developmental theories of children come under the basis of gender-blind position and propose that emotional development is rather the same between the male and female (Kelleher, Severin & Khaahloe, 2012, pp. 8-12). Feminist have also emphasized and pointed out another imperative social issue of elderly nurturing, which has come under neglection and ignorance, while on the other hand the child development and education has given much more importance in evaluation. For instance, the research conducted in UK reveals the modest proportion of people in the elderly institutions in UK. Furthermore, this element has shown stable and constant results all the years of the twentieth century. Quite in contrary, the schools and health centers have demonstrated numerous results of taking responsibilities in the nurturing and fostering of the young generation students and children. In addition, families of UK have also discovered new ways and means that can facilitate in the emotional development of the children. Moreover, the schools have also played a vital role in the development and safeguarding the intellectual development of the children through a number of tasks and activities (Pathy, Sinclair & Morley, 2006, pp. 1974-1975). The unemployment within the labor market is one the serious social issues that has come under feminist critique and evaluation. The studies unveil the information that even though the population in the last few decades has increased dramatically, yet the unemployment, indeed the long-term employment rates in the UK have been much higher in association to the populace. Although, it has also come to an observation that few of the countries have designed programmes and approaches that prevent unemployment rates within the country, yet majority of the countries including European countries and UK are facing the same social issue of higher unemployment. Again, the feminist have identified and indicated the fact that women tends to form a higher rate of long-term unemployment than that of male members of the society (United Nations. Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, 2006, pp. 160-162). The feminist assert that the studies have provided with sufficient verification that long-term unemployment rates have a strong relation to the low-educational attainment or insufficient skills and competence. Although other factors such as technological change and advancement also contribute to the unemployment rates, yet these leading and dominant factors cause long-term unemployment. This means that the social policy development has lacked in defining and catering all aspects of education, and employment policies. Moreover, the females have come under consideration to avert from their education if the parents are not able to afford the educational expense of all the children, as the attainment of education for the males are more important according to perceptions. This is because males have come under assumption as the only breadwinners (United Nations. Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, 2006, pp. 160-162). However, feminist also draws the attention that long-term unemployment rates can lead to numerous other social issues such as health related problems, increase in poverty, escalated crime rates and criminal activities, and thus would leave a drastic impact to the wellbeing and welfare of the society on whole (United Nations. Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, 2006, pp. 160-162). Conclusion To put the subject matter of social policy briefly, it can be well concluded with the thought that social policy is an endeavor by the political leaders of the country to bring a change to the social order by amendment and adaptation of all the social issues that can contribute to the wellbeing of the local people of the nation. While taking under consideration the nation of UK with respect to social policy and issues associated with it, it has come to observation that a set of rules and principles came under designing and establishment in the latter years of the nineteenth century that aimed to develop a society that could administer in itself. Besides, the government focused on social issues of health, community care services, education, and housing in order to constitute policies that can be approachable and conducive to the requirements of individual consumers, instead of the citizens. Nonetheless, the women of the community have suffered and experienced a vulnerable function. This is because the resources have come under biased segregation, where the men and women did not experienced equality in establishing their rights and power concerning the social circumstances. Even though, the women are no less capable in comparison to the men on the subject of employment, yet the traditional responsibilities of women denotes they are disproportionate and unbalanced to the men. Therefore, it becomes indispensable to evaluate the critiques, particularly provided by feminist approach in this matter. The feminist analysis has also indicated that the women have an opportunity to subsist and survive without the complete dependency upon the male partners through the state benefits they receive for their children and domestic services for the adult dependents. Even though in the labor market, the women does not have equal opportunity stand and good options in order to enjoy their liberty and independence. However, in various parts of the world, quite a few of the feminists have made string claims and obligations on the government to have a social policy that can practice the policies providing welfare, independence, empowerment and liberation to the women on an equal note as of men, thus making women responsive nations. To put it succinctly, in the view of feminist, the privilege provided to women is fundamental that aids in securing the equal access to the resources in the society. The welfare of the state has also a deep impact of the female public participation; therefore, the feminists compel and urge governments to have greater participation by the female members of the society. References Alcock, P., May, M. & Wright, S. 2012. The Student's Companion to Social Policy. London: John Wiley & Sons. Baldock, J., Manning, N., & Vickerstaff, S. 2007. Social Policy. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Barusch, A. S. 2011. Foundations of Social Policy: Social Justice in Human Perspective. 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