Family Politics: Campaigning for Child Benefits in the 1980s.

Abstract

Child benefit was seen by some to encourage the sort of welfare dependency that the moralistic individualism of Thatcherism opposed. Yet, surprisingly, the benefit survived the Thatcher years. Its survival reveals the conundrum the Conservative party have had regarding benefits for the family and family policy more broadly. Neo-liberals were supportive of the family as a vehicle for reinforcing Conservative values. Yet, the late 1970s and 1980s were periods of social change where the traditional family of the Conservative imagination was breaking down and consequently 'family policy' became a key political theme. By emphasizing the utility of child benefit as being fair to families, rather than its role in poverty alleviation, the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) was able to draw on this increased concern. As a result, their campaigns to save child benefit profited from increased support from across Conservatism. In tracing the development of CPAG's campaign, this article will demonstrate the cautiousness of Conservatives, even in the neo-liberal era, to changing some aspects of social policy. It will also highlight the challenge changing family patterns posed to the male breadwinner model that had long been embedded within the welfare policy prescriptions of both main parties.