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Lone Parents in the 1970s and 80s
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More of the Same or Different?
Professor Hilary Land, President, Social Policy Association
I. Introduction
Professor Pat Thane, Professor of Contemporary British History, University of London, (Chair)
There are long-running continuities in the issues that One Parent Families has been dealing with since its inception. Fathers' acceptance of parental responsibility and provision of financial support is one. The organisation has aimed for children of lone parents to receive the same legal and social status as other children. One Parent Families opposed the pressures on lone mothers to have their children adopted. This was prevalent in the 1950s, an oppressive time for single mothers.
II. Presentation - Professor Hilary Land
1. Context for Change
The 1950s and 1960s were not good times for lone unmarried mothers. Information about contraception was scarce; abortions were difficult to secure.
The rediscovery of child poverty raised the issue of lone parents. Changes in family law attempted to ensure that children should not be legally affected by the status of their parents. The notion that women were dependent upon husbands was challenged by the re-emergence of the women's movement.
A major review of the benefit system began. Lone parents were present - but not visible - on the agenda.
2. Action in the 1970s
The focus of child poverty investigations was upon children of working parents, but inclusion in the labour market is not a solution to the poverty problem. Creating parity between lone parents and two-parent families was a priority of the Conservative government of the early 1970s. The tax allowance for a working lone parent family was greater than that for a two-parent family, acknowledging the greater burden on the individual.
The co-habitation rule for benefits precluded favouring lone parents over two-parent families. Benefits were structured to focus on provision for the first family of any man, as it was felt more likely that the individual would support the family he lived with.
The benefits package was improved through the decade, including the introduction of child benefit. The focus remained on lone mothers connected with the labour market. The housing situation improved with the 1977 Housing (Homeless Persons) Act, which prioritised homeless people with children.
Lone mothers were not perceived as a large drain on the benefit system.
3. Reactions in the 1980s
The Conservative government was concerned with issues such as the escalating costs of residential care for the elderly and the large numbers of unemployed young persons. The government felt elements such as child benefit and free school meals could encourage striking workers. The 1986 benefits review transformed Family Allowance into Family Tax Credit, eliminating such subsidiary areas of state support. This reduced incentives for lone mothers to work; the number of lone mothers was expected to fall.
Lone mothers rose in government priority with the realisation that over the decade the amount of benefit being claimed by them doubled.
Theoretically, lone mothers had the freedom of choice to enter the labour market. Lone mothers, relocated away from grandparents and extended family, were prohibited from work due to the lack of childcare. The labour market of the 1980s demanded educational qualifications.
Mrs Thatcher, suddenly aware of the breakdown of the family unit, considered this the root of social ills. Her concern precipitated the 1991 Child Support Act, which aimed to guarantee children's rights to share in the wealth and quality of life of both their parents.
Significantly, it was only after the policy failure of the attempt to force errant fathers into accepting financial responsibility for their children that the government began to encourage lone mothers to function economically identically to married mothers.
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