The Family in the Welfare State

Hiotvip . ?w can they be when the the par ls Probably at work? Where for^ rer|t was solely responsible in of ^ years, now health is the care ^ecliVai ante-natal clinic, the school fare c s?rv'ces and the Public Welepvices in general. Recent survey In a recent sociological survey, one conclusion found that many parents have also lost economic control (5 million teenagers have ?1,000 million a year to spend). They have lost intellectual control (through advances in education); quite a lot of them have little control based on affection, for real affection demands selfsacrifice by the parent, and not only indulgence to the child. It is harder for the parent to insist on good attitudes and behaviour than to be conciliatory and indulgent. Looking into the background of boys and girls who pass through penal institutions, the collective picture is not only of a fringe of social chaos and broken homes and neglect, but also, it seems, of continuing helplessness. They have no source of authority, and therefore no source of security. The signs are that at least in a section of the population, the affluent society has increased the trends making for irresponsibility among adults and delinquency among the young, and the traditional sources which once protected and supported the influence of the family are being assailed. Yet it is in the early years that lasting attitudes to authority are laid down. While the familv is in its present limbo of uncertainty, it may well be