A way of making government study how its policies affect the family.
For many decades politicians of right and left have been biased towards materialist rather than relational considerations. They have studied the financial cost of actions but have neglected possible implications for the family, for community relations or for other hard-to-measure components of Britain’s social capital.
The result has been the growth of intruderism - with powerful market forces and a bloated state elbowing aside civil society institutions.
One way of raising the status of the family within Whitehall would be the appointment of a minister for the family but such an appointment might ghettoise family policy. Almost every government function impacts the family. Tax policy affects work patterns within families. Education policy affects the authority of parents. Housing and transport policies can decide whether members of the extended family can live close to one another. Preferable to a family minister would be the introduction of a system of family impact statements that would force every portfolio-holder to consider how policy changes might impact the well-being of families.
Six components of a system of family impact statements
Under a comprehensive system of family impact assessment every relevant area of public policy could be scrutinised to ensure that it strengthens marriage, parenting and the extended family.
The following six tests illustrate the range of possible issues that ‘FIS’s might study:
THE HEALTHY MARRIAGE TEST: would the policy action encourage or help a young couple to form a healthy marriage and would it strengthen existing marriages? Government policy already encourages a range of socially-useful activities (like saving and learning). The aspiration to marriage is also worthy of support?
THE PARENTING TEXT: does the policy action help parents to choose to spend enough quality time with each other and their children? Does it combat the problem of father absence?
THE SOCIAL JUSTICE TEST: are lower income families helped by the policy action? Stealth taxes fall hardest on poor families. Families often face different price pressures than single people and a special price index could be considered to ensure that financial support for parents is given at an appropriate level.
THE SUBSIDIARITY TEST: does a particular policy action strengthen the civic institution closest to the individual or family affected (if it cannot empower the individual or family directly)?
THE INDEPENDENCE TEST: how does the policy action affect a family’s ability to be independent and make its own choices regarding choice of school, housing and saving, for example? Is the distribution of power and responsibility within families affected – eg between mums and dads? Where government or a public agency (such as the BBC) retains powers how can these be discharged in more accountable ways; ideally directly involving parents?
THE COHERENCE TEST: does the policy action complement other initiatives being undertaken by other government agencies or voluntary and faith-based groups?
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