ABSTRACT
Much of the policy debate in the UK has concerned itself with 'family life', often in reaction to media attention given to 'lone' parents, teenage mothers, absent fathers, rising divorce rates, truancy and 'problem' youth. Neo-liberal policies aimed at encouraging the normalised family and discouraging other family forms were strongly influenced by the theories of the Charles Murray. He laid the blame for the growth of what he called the 'underclass' in the UK on liberal welfare. New Labour came to power with the stated aim of reducing child poverty and social exclusion, apparently an ideological return to some level of state responsibility for the well-being of citizens. New Labour's emerging policies aimed at, or impacting on, families will be examined: policies aimed at bringing parents back into the labour market, including child care for young children as a way of reducing poverty; policies to do with the concept of need within families; and policies aimed at youth offending.
