New Right Perspective of the Family (AQA A Level Sociology): Revision Note

New Right view of the family

• The New Right adopts a conservative viewpoint that supports traditional family values and promotes the nuclear family as the ideal foundation for a stable society

• They believe that changes in family structures and increased state intervention have weakened the institution of the family, leading to social breakdown and moral decline

Key beliefs of the New Right

• Natural gender roles

  • Men and women are seen to have biologically determined roles: men as providers and women as caregivers

  • This division is considered functional and beneficial for individuals and society

  • The nuclear family is seen as the natural and most effective structure

• Rejection of welfare dependency

  • Welfare support is believed to encourage a ‘dependency culture’, discouraging personal responsibility and work

  • Benefits (e.g., child support, housing) are thought to reward lone-parent households and discourage marriage

  • Single mothers, in particular, are often portrayed as burdening the welfare system

• Opposition to government interference

  • The New Right disapproves of excessive state regulation in private life (referred to as the ‘nanny state’)

  • They argue the government interferes too much in areas such as family structure, health choices, and parenting

The ideal family model

• The married, heterosexual nuclear family is viewed as the cornerstone of society

• It is believed to offer discipline, moral guidance, and emotional security for children

• The nuclear unit is seen as key to solving social issues like crime, educational failure, and dependency

Concerns about changing family patterns

• New Right thinkers argue that recent changes in state policy have undermined traditional family life in the following ways:

  • Decline in marriage and rise in divorce

    • Viewed as a threat to social cohesion and lifelong commitment

    • Attributed to increasing cohabitation, secularism, and liberal attitudes toward relationships

    • Family breakdown is blamed for poor outcomes for children, especially boys raised without a father

  • Welfare dependency:

    • Welfare is seen to discourage male responsibility and encourage ‘feckless parenting’

    • According to Murray (1990), this contributes to a ‘deviant underclass’ involved in crime and poor parenting

  • Labour government criticism (1997–2010)

    • The New Right claim Labour policies undermined the nuclear family by supporting same-sex relationships, encouraging mothers to work rather than stay at home, and providing sex education and free contraception to teenagers

Views on equality and legislation

• The New Right support equal opportunity but opposes policies that promote gender role equality

• Laws such as the Equal Pay Act (1970) and Sex Discrimination Act (1975) are criticised for disrupting traditional family roles and promoting dual-earner households

• Legalisation of same-sex marriage (Marriage Act 2013) and the expansion of children’s rights are seen as threats to family stability

• They believe that too much focus on individual rights undermines parental authority and weakens the family unit

Evaluation of the New Right perspective

Strengths

• Influence on government policy

  • New Right views on promoting the nuclear family have shaped UK social policies (opens in a new tab), such as the Child Support Agency (1993), to ensure absent fathers contribute financially

  • Their direct influence on policymaking shows their perspective is not just theoretical but has practical significance

Criticisms

• Exaggerates the impact of social policy

  • Abbott and Wallace argue the New Right overstate how much social policy harms families

    • Most policies (e.g., maternity leave, child protection) support rather than weaken families

    • The Child Support Agency promotes financial responsibility, but some say unmarried fathers are unfairly denied rights

• Ignores family diversity

  • The New Right sees the nuclear family as the only valid structure

  • This excludes lone-parent, reconstituted and same-sex families, who may struggle under policies designed for traditional families

  • Many benefits and tax systems still assume a nuclear model, limiting equal access for others

• Promotes an idealised family model

  • Bernardes (1997) says the New Right promotes a narrow, unrealistic view of family life

  • It ignores modern diversity and stereotypes non-nuclear families as dysfunctional

  • The assumption that children from non-nuclear families are always disadvantaged is overstated

  • In reality, children from diverse families can do well when supported properly