Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gxg78 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T16:48:58.424Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Labour's Policy on Money for Parents: Combining Care with Paid Work

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 October 2008

Mary Campbell
Mary Campbell*
Affiliation:
Department of Social Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science E-mail: m.i.campbell@lse.ac.uk
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Since 1997, Labour has redistributed welfare spending to caregivers, especially parents. Two primary aims of this policy were getting more mothers into paid work and reducing child poverty. But the implications are more complicated than this. All households with children have gained, and especially those on low and middle incomes. But lone parents and mothers and fathers in couple households have each been affected differently. Defining what constitutes ‘money for care’ is a prerequisite for normative discussion on how the social costs of caregiving should be shared between and within households.

Type
Articles
Information
Social Policy and Society , Volume 7 , Issue 4 , October 2008 , pp. 457 - 470
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Annesley, C., Gains, F. and Rummery, K. (2007), Women and New Labour, Bristol: Policy Press.Google Scholar
Bellamy, K., Bennett, F. and Millar, J. (2005), Who Benefits? A Gender Analysis of the UK Benefits and Tax Credits System, London: Fawcett Society.Google Scholar
Bennett, F. (2005), Gender and Benefits, Manchester: Equal Opportunities Commission.Google Scholar
Bennett, F. (2006), ‘Paying for children: current issues and implications of policy debates’, in Lewis, J. (ed.), Children, Changing Families and Welfare States, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.Google Scholar
Brewer, M. (2007), ‘Supporting couples with children through the tax system’, The IFS Green Budget: January 2007, London: Institute for Fiscal Studies.Google Scholar
Brewer, M., Clark, T. and Myck, M. (2001), Credit Where It's Due? An Assessment of the New Tax Credits, London: Institute for Fiscal Studies.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brewer, M. and Shaw, J. (2006), ‘How many lone parents are receiving tax credits?’, Briefing Note No. 70, Institute for Fiscal Studies, London.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bryan, M. and Taylor, M. (2006), ‘Identifying and explaining patterns of NMW receipts in Britain 1999–2004’, Report to the Low Pay Commission, Low Pay Commission, London.Google Scholar
Burgess, A. (2007), The Costs and Benefits of Active Fatherhood, London: Fathers Direct.Google Scholar
Campbell, M. (2006), ‘New Labour and the redistribution of time’, Political Quarterly, 77, 2, 255–64.Google Scholar
Campbell, M. and Roberts, C. (2002), ‘Child tax credit and the family’, Family Policy Briefing, Department of Social Policy and Social Work, University of Oxford.Google Scholar
Crossley, T. and Jeon, S.-L. (2007), ‘Joint taxation and the labour supply of married women: evidence from the Canadian tax reform of 1988’, Fiscal Studies, 28, 3, 343–65.Google Scholar
Daly, M. and Lewis, J. (2000), ‘The concept of social care and the analysis of contemporary welfare states’, British Journal of Sociology, 51, 2, 281–98.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Deacon, A. (2007), ‘Civic labour or doulia? Care, reciprocity and welfare’, Social Policy and Society, 6, 4, 481–90.Google Scholar
Dearing, H., Hofer, H., Lietz, C., Winter-Ebmer, R. and Wrohlich, K. (2007), ‘Why are mothers working longer hours in Austria than in Germany?’, Fiscal Studies, 28, 4, 463–95.Google Scholar
DfEE (1998), Meeting the Childcare Challenge, Cm 3959, Norwich: Stationery Office.Google Scholar
Directgov (2007), http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/DisabledPeople/FinancialSupport/DG_10012425 and . . . / DG_10011731, 11/May/07.Google Scholar
DTI (1998), National Minimum Wage Regulations: Regulatory Impact Assessment, London: Department for Trade and Industry.Google Scholar
DTI (2007), Additional Paternity Leave and Pay – Administration of Additional Statutory Paternity Pay, Partial Regulatory Impact Assessment, London: Department of Trade and Industry.Google Scholar
DWP (2005), Women and Pensions: The Evidence, London: Department for Work and Pensions.Google Scholar
DWP (2007a), http://www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd4/expenditure.asp, 6 May 2007.Google Scholar
DWP (2007b), Pension Credit Estimates of Take-up in 2005–6, National Statistics First Release, London: Department for Work and Pensions.Google Scholar
DWP (2007c), http://www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd1/pc/pc_feb05_pubs.xls, 6 May 2007.Google Scholar
DWP (2007d), In Work, Better Off: Next Steps to Full Employment, Cm 7130, Norwich: HMSO.Google Scholar
Finch, J. and Mason, J. (1992), Negotiating Family Responsibilities, London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Folbre, N. (1994), Who Pays for the Kids? Gender and the Structures of Constraint, London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Fraser, N. (1997), Justus Interruptus, New York and London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Freud, D. (2007), Reducing Dependency, Increasing Opportunity: Options for the Future of Welfare to Work, London: Department for Work and Pensions.Google Scholar
Gilligan, C. (1982), In a Different Voice, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Goode, J., Callender, C. and Lister, R. (1998), Purse or Wallet? Gender Inequalities and Income Distribution within Families on Benefits, London: Policy Studies Institute.Google Scholar
Harker, L. (2006), Delivering on Child Poverty: What Would it Take?, London: Department for Work and Pensions.Google Scholar
HC (1995), Employment Committee, 1994–5 Session, ‘Second Special Report’, HC 457, Hansard.Google Scholar
HC (1999a), ‘Budget Statement’, 9 March, House of Commons, Hansard.Google Scholar
HC (1999b), ‘Written Answers’, House of Commons, 8 February, Hansard.Google Scholar
HC (2004), ‘Pre-Budget Report’, Debates, 2 December, Hansard.Google Scholar
HC (2005), Trade and Industry Select Committee, 2004–5 Session, ‘Sixteenth Report’, HC300, Hansard.Google Scholar
HC (2007), National Insurance Fund Account, 2005–6, HC 186, London: The Stationery Office.Google Scholar
HMRC (2004), Employer Supported Childcare, Regulatory Impact Assessment, London: HMRC.Google Scholar
HMRC (2007a), 2006–7 Accounts, London: HM Revenue and Customs.Google Scholar
HMRC (2007b), Child and Working Tax Credit Quarterly Statistics, London: HMRC.Google Scholar
HMT (2003), Pre-Budget Report, London: HM Treasury.Google Scholar
HMT (2004), Budget Report, London: HM Treasury.Google Scholar
HMT (2007), Budget 2007: Building Britain's Long-Term Future: Prosperity and Fairness for Families, London: Treasury.Google Scholar
HMT (2008), Ending Child Poverty: Everybody's Business, London: Treasury.Google Scholar
HMT, DfES, DWP and DTI (2004), Choice for Parents, the Best Start for Children: a Ten-Year Strategy for Childcare, London: Treasury.Google Scholar
Joshi, H., Paci, P. and Waldfogel, J. (1999), ‘The wages of motherhood: better or worse?’, Cambridge Journal of Economics, 23, 543–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kazimirski, A., Smith, R., Mogensen, E. and Lemetti, F. (2006), Monitoring the Reform of the Income Tax and National Insurance Rules for Employer-Supported Childcare, London: HMRC.Google Scholar
Kennedy, J. (2007), ‘£190 grant to help expectant mums’, HMRC press release, 14 November 2007 HMRC, London.Google Scholar
Kilpatrick, C. and Freedland, M. (2004), ‘The United Kingdom: how is EU governance transformative?’, in Sciarra, S., Davies, P. and Freedland, M. (eds), Employment Policy and the Regulation of Part-time Work in the European Union, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Knijn, T. and Kremer, M. (1997), ‘Gender and the caring dimension of welfare states’, Social Politics, 4, 3, 328–61.Google Scholar
Lewis, J. (2003), ‘Developing early years childcare in England, 1997–2002: the choices for working mothers’, Social Policy and Administration, 37, 3, 219–39.Google Scholar
Lewis, J. (2006), ‘Work–family reconciliation, equal opportunities and social policies: the interpretation of policy trajectories at the EU level and the meaning of gender equality’, Journal of European Public Policy, 13, 3, 420–37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lewis, J. and Campbell, M. (2007), ‘UK work/family balance policies and gender equality, 1997–2005’, Social Politics, 14, 1, 4–30.Google Scholar
Lewis, J., Campbell, M. and Huerta, C. (2008), ‘Patterns of paid and unpaid work in western Europe’, Journal of European Social Policy, 18, 1, 21–37.Google Scholar
Lister, R. (2002), Citizenship: Feminist Perspectives, 2nd edn, London: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Macnicol, J. (1980), The Movement for Family Allowances, 1918–1945, London: Heinemann.Google Scholar
Millar, J. and Rowlingson, K. (eds) (2001), Lone Parents, Employment and Social Policy: Cross-national comparisons, Bristol: Policy Press.Google Scholar
Nolan, P. (2006), ‘Tax relief for breadwinners or caregivers?’, Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis, 8, 2, 167–83.Google Scholar
Nussbaum, M. (1999), Sex and Social Justice, Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
O'Connor, J. (2005), ‘Employment-anchored social policy, gender mainstreaming and the Open Method of Policy Co-ordination in the European Union’, European Societies 7, 1, 27–52.Google Scholar
OECD (2007), ‘Dataset SOCX2007’, http://stats.oecd.org/wbos/ViewHTML.aspx 12 July 2007.Google Scholar
Orloff, A.S. (1993), ‘Gender and the social rights of citizenship: the comparative analysis of gender relations and welfare states’, American Sociological Review, 58, 3, 303–28.Google Scholar
Penn, H. and Randall, V. (2005), ‘Childcare policy and local partnerships under Labour’, Journal of Social Policy 34, 1, 79–97.Google Scholar
Rake, K. (2001), ‘Gender and new labour's social policies’, Journal of Social Policy, 30, 2, 209–31.Google Scholar
Rathbone, E. (1949), Family Allowances: A New Edition of ‘The Disinherited Family’ [1924], with an Epilogue by Lord Beveridge, Birkenhead: Wilmer Brothers.Google Scholar
Ridge, T. (2007), ‘It's a family affair: low-income children's perspectives on maternal work’, Journal of Social Policy, 36, 3, 399–416.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rodgers, J. and Rubery, J. (2003), ‘Perspectives: the minimum wage as a tool to combat discrimination and promote equality’, International Labour Review, 142, 4, 543–59.Google Scholar
Sigle-Rushton, W. and Waldfogel, J. (2007), ‘Motherhood and women's earnings in Anglo-American, Continental European and Nordic Countries’, Feminist Economics, 13, 2, 55–91.Google Scholar
Smeaton, D. and Marsh, A. (2006), Maternity and Paternity Rights and Benefits: Survey of Parents 2005, London: Department of Trade and Industry.Google Scholar
WEU (2006a), Individual Income Statistics, London: Women and Equality Unit.Google Scholar
WEU (2006b), ‘What has the Government done for women’, http://www.womenandequalityunit.gov.uk/about/government_women.htm (accessed 3 December 2006).Google Scholar