英语essay范文

IntroductionThereare1,250,000lone-parentfamiliesintheUK,and19percentofallthesefamilieshavechildren(Millar,1999).Thequantityofsingleparentshavealmostincreasedtwo-foldsinceearly1970sandthisgrowthispartofwidestpatternsofchangeinfamilystructure.Herearesomanyreasonsforthis,forexample,therisinginextramaritalbirths,theincreasingincohabitation,therisinginthedivorce,andtherisingofremarriageandcohabitationafterdivorce.(Millar,1999).In2000,itmaybethatlessthan50%ofallchildrenintheUnitedKingdomwillhavespentalltheirlivesinatraditionaltwoparentsfamilywithboththeirrealparents(Kiernan&Wicks,1990citedMillar,1996).TheessaywillanalyseseveralofthemainfactorswhichhaveaffectedthechangingofthelonemothersfamiliesintheUK.Andboththetroublesandfortunesthatreceivedbylonemothers.TherearethreemainpartstoexplainthechangingofloneparentsfamiliesinBritain:thechangingpolicy;theascendingeconomy;thechangingsociology(socialvalue).TheThreeMainFactors—Policy,Economy,andSociology,fortheIncreasingoftheLoneMothersFamiliesintheUnitedKingdomSince1971to1990thenumberofdivorcedandseperatedfemalewithchildrenincreasedfrom290,000to650,000;thequantityofsinglemotherrosefrom90,000to390,000.Thenumbersoflonefathershavealsoraisedfrom70,000to110,000,buttheystillverymuchinthesmallnumber,atnearly10%ofallsingleparents.Hencemostloneparentsarewomenandonlyover50%arefemalewhoaredivorcedorseperatedfromtheirex-hunsbands(Haskey,1993citedMillar,1996).Nevertheless,theriseinthenumbersofsinglemothersfamiliesitselfhasnotsignificantlyincreasedtheconcernofthegovernment.Inrecentthreedecades,thereasonwhythequantitiesofloneparentsintheUKhasbeenrisingisthattheirdependenceonstatebenefitshasbeenincreasingandtheratesoftheiremploymenthavebeendecreasing.Povertyhasrisenandpartlysinglemothersliveonincomesprobablyfewerthantheaverageforotherhouseholdswithchildren.However,duringthistimepolicyforlongparentshasbeen‘inthedoldrums’(Bradshaw,1989citedMillar,1996).TheChangingPolicyInthelate1980s,while,thegovernmentbegantopaymoreattentiontothoseloneparentsfamilies.Thesocialsecuritysystemasawholehadbeenreviewedinthemiddle1980sandlegislationintroducedin1986(Millar,1996).Afterthisreviewwascompleted,accordingtoMillar(1996),policyattentionchanged,especiallytoloneparents.Inthemiddleof1980stheLancashireCountryCouncilestablishedawelfarerightsservicewhichofferingexpertadviceandguidanceonthemazeofbenefitsandallowancesavailabletopeopleacrossthecountry(Cosslett,Easton&Summerfield,1996).LonemothersintheUKgottremendousbenefitsfromthisservice,andvariousposterandpressadvertisingcampaignshavebeenlaunchedtoensurethatmothersareawareofthebenefitsavialabletothemandhowtoapplyforthem.Financeisanotheroftheessentialreasons.Becausetheincomesupportforlongparentshadbeenincreasingrapidlythroughoutthe1980sandbecauseofthis,inrealtermssocialsecutrityspendingonloneparentsincreasedthreetimesbetween1981and1988(DSS,1990citedMillar,1996).Thekeyeconomicobjectiveforconservativegovernmentinthe1980swasthecontrolofpublicexpenditure.Thereforetheseincreasingcostleadtotheconcern.OneoftheConservativesocialpolicy’scentraltenetsinthe1980swasthatthegovernmentofferedtoomuchsupport,offeringalargenumberofwelfare,andthismeansthatthepeopleandhouseholdswerenotresponsibleforthemselvesanymore(Millar,1996).Astherewasanincreasingnumbersoflonemothersfamilieswhoreliedonthegovernmenttoofferthemanincome.Inordertolightenthisburdenandreducesingleparents’unemploymentrate,thepolicyturneditsattentiontowardsanotheraspect:childrensupport,tosolvetheseproblems.Throughthisway,firstly,itcanrisethe‘responsibility’oftheabsentfather;secondly,itcanreducethe‘dependency’ofthelonemotheronthestate;thirdly,itcansavethestatemoney.Soin1991,therewasaChildSupportAct.Anditaimstodealwiththoesloneparents’children’sissuesbyestablishingangovernmentorganisationtoberesponsibleforsettingandenforcingmaintenancepaymentsforchildren(Millar,1996).TheChildrenSupportAgencyreallydidabigfavourtothoseloneparents,andatthesametimeitalsoreflectsaparticularresponsetochangingemploymentoffemaleineconomy.TheAscendingEconomyThetwentietycenturyhaswentthroughafar-reachingchangeofthenatureofworkandoftheskillsoftheworkforce.Particularly,theeconomyiscontrolledbytheserviceindustriesandworktasksincreasinglyincludeworkwithpeopleratherthanonobjects.Anthesametime,withthedevelopmentofscienceandtechnology,anincreasingnumberofworksareassociatedwithdifferentkindsofskills.Thesechangesintheformsofworkhavebeenaccompaniedbyadramaticshiftinthesexcompositionoftheworkforce(Halsey&Webb,2000).Men’sparticipationrateshaveconsitentlydecreasedthrougheverytenyears,from94%in1911to71%in1998.Ontheopposite,therehasbeenastrongtrendforwomen’sparticipationinthelabourforcetoraise.In1991,onlymorethan1/3offemale(35%)wereintheworkforce;by1998thiswasthecaseforoverhalf(54%)(Halsey&Webb,2000).Fromthiswecanknowthattheincreasingoffemalecooperationwasindicatedinthewomen’srisedshareofworks.Atthesametime,italsomeansthatmoreandmoresinglemotherscansupportthemselvesbyusingtheirincomes,sincetheyarebecomingmoreindependencethanbefore.Hence,itisnotuncommonforanincre