“PARENTAL RESPONSIBILITY” — A DOMINANT THEME IN BRITISH CHILD AND FAMILY POLICY FOR THE 1990s

This paper will consider the notion of “parental responsibility” in British policy in relation to two major pieces of legislation, the Children Act 1989 and the Child Support Act 1991. These have considerable impact on the shape of policy in relation to families with children in the 1990s. These two Acts originate in different processes and address different areas of the family‐ state interaction — in the case of the Children Act, public and private law concerning who should care for children in case of dispute or problems; in the case of the Child Support Act, the question of how children should be financially maintained. But both embody a notion of greater parental responsibilities (as opposed to rights) which cannot be lightly surrendered or neglected. The differences and similarities between these two Acts will be examined, and the underlying theme of Conservative “family policy”, and its long‐term intentions and implications, will be addressed.