This thesis analyses the two-child limit policy in the United Kingdom which is codified in section 10 of the Welfare Reform Act 2012, amended in section 14 of the Welfare Reform and Work Act 2016, by utilising Carol Bacchi’s "What’s the Problem Represented to be?" (WPR) approach. The WPR approach draws on Foucauldian discourse theory and investigates the policy's implications by studying the problem presentations within it. The analysis identifies three core problems in the Welfare Reform and Work Bill’s impact assessment: the necessity to address the deficit by restructuring the welfare state, fairness towards working taxpayers versus benefit recipients, and the escalation of tax credit expenditure. It further uncovers five assumptions embedded within the policy, suggesting that UK citizens incorporate the policy into family planning, anticipate future social security needs, and make fertility decisions based on financial considerations, with the policy aimed at improving children's future prospects.Additionally, the study traces the ideological roots shaping welfare reform, highlighting the influence of Conservative Party ideologies from the Thatcher era and subsequent policies that reduced welfare support, contrasting with New Labour's interventionist approach and the media’s role in reinforcing negative welfare perceptions. The analysis uncovers several problem presentations in the policy and concludes that the government and media can craft narratives that shift the responsibility for child poverty from the state to parents, with enduring impacts on social discourse and policy direction, challenging future policy reversals.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:mau-67886 |
| Date | January 2024 |
| Creators | Halvardsson, Erik |
| Publisher | Malmö universitet, Institutionen för globala politiska studier (GPS) |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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