Has the family had its day?

Analysis

BBC

Government, Politics, News

4.6 • 1K Ratings

🗓️ 5 February 2024

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

British politicians love to invoke the family, from John Major's "Back to Basics" campaign, to New Labour's "hardworking families" - and now a prominent strain of the Conservative right says parents sticking together for the sake of the children is "the only possible basis for a safe and successful society".

By turning family values into a political football, are they in denial about the way society has developed this century? For decades, single-person households have been the fastest-growing demographic and younger generations are re-defining romantic commitments and their purpose.

Is the erosion of traditional structure around marriage and family a destructive thing for society, or does it offer the kind of freedom and individual choice denied to previous generations?

Presenter: Zoe Strimpel Producer: David Reid Editor: Clare Fordham

Contributors: Danny Kruger, Conservative Member of Parliament for Devizes and Co-Chair of the New Conservatives: Committing to a Better Politics. Dr. Ruth Beecher, Historian of Modern Britain and the United States, Birkbeck, University of London Prof. Deborah Cohen, Richard W. Leopold Professor of History at Northwestern University. Prof. Sasha Roseneil, Vice Chancellor of the University of Sussex. Prof. Sylvie Fogelj-Bijaoui, sociologist specialising in gender, human rights, the family and the kibbutz. Daisy Lees, resident of Old Hall Chris Lees, resident of Old Hall Rob Connigale, resident of Old Hall

Transcript

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0:41.0	Thank you for listening to this edition of Analysis, the
0:43.9	podcast that looks at the ideas behind the news. In this episode,
0:48.4	presenter Zoe Strimple examines family-friendly political rhetoric and ask has the family had its day. There was a snippet of news you might have missed a couple of weeks ago, but according to the Office of National Statistics, the proportion of married people fell below 50% for the first time last year.
1:18.7	The news broke with barely a murmur, and many people just thought, oh, I assumed that happened ages ago.
1:26.0	So is this the final confirmation that the nuclear family is now officially out of date and
1:32.0	should we be alarmed?
1:35.0	Is this something that tells us we're not taking long-term stable relationship seriously enough?
1:40.0	Or put another way, with fertility rates dipping way below replacement level,
1:45.4	does our need for individualistic self-realization mean we will forever rely on
1:49.9	immigration to fill job vacancies.
1:53.0	Politicians like families.
1:56.0	At least they say they do.
1:58.0	We are absolutely on the side of hardworking families and this government is cutting their taxes.
	...

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