ABSTRACT
This chapter suggests that the trends in the UK have moved in the direction of assuming ever greater individualization on the part of men and women, whether in terms of family formation or economic autonomy, and that this has penetrated both family law and social policies. It is now rare to hear fighting talk in the UK about women's rights. Rather, it is 'gender issues' which are very much alive here and in Europe generally, particularly in relation to the problem of combining work and family responsibilities. While women's behaviour has changed substantially in respect of paid work, they still perform the bulk of unpaid care work. The new set of assumptions behind social policies amounts to 'an adult worker' rather than a male breadwinner model family. The nature of family change also encourages policy makers to treat men and women as fully individualized for the purposes of family law.
