A FEMINIST CASE AGAINST NATIONAL FAMILY POLICY: VIEW TO THE FUTURE |
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| Authors: | Patricia Spakes |
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| Institution: | Associate Professor, Department of Social Work, and Chair of the Women's Studies Program, University of North Carolina-Greensboro. She received her Ph.D. in Social Welfare from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She has written Family Policy and Family Impact Analysis (Schenkman, 1984) and numerous articles on national family policy. Currently at work on a book, National Family Policy and the Supreme Court: Trends and Directions. |
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| Abstract: | This paper examines the goals of current family policy proposals from a feminist perspective. It reveals the fundamental pronatalist values that are inherent in such proposals. It reviews recent research that raises questions regarding the actual impact of Scandinavian family policies (which are often used as a model), in terms of actually achieving the stated objective of enhancing equality between the sexes. It briefly explores the family policy that already exists in the United States, having been judicially enacted by the Supreme Court, and finally, it shows how most current family based policy proposals serve to maintain inequality rather than to promote equality, both in society and the home.
The paper attempts to raise issues that policymakers need to consider in order to establish a long range policy goals that will truly benefit women and their families. |
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