Changing the Paradigm: Family Responsibility or Investing in Children

Since the 1980s and even more markedly in the 1990s, new public policies and programs with «child» or «children» in the title have proliferated in Canada. This article makes the claim that this shift in policy focus marks the appearance of a new policy paradigm. The article supports this claim first...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Canadian journal of sociology 2004-04, Vol.29 (2), p.169-192
Main Author: Jenson, Jane
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Analysis
Canada
Child care
Child development
Child welfare
Children
Company business management
Employment
Families
Families & family life
Family law
Family Policy
Government regulation
Interpretation and construction
Laws & regulations
Laws, regulations and rules
Management
Parenting
Parents
Parents & parenting
Policy making
Poverty
Risks
Social Policy
Social security
Social services administration
Social work administration
Welfare policy
Wellbeing
Workforce
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Summary:Since the 1980s and even more markedly in the 1990s, new public policies and programs with «child» or «children» in the title have proliferated in Canada. This article makes the claim that this shift in policy focus marks the appearance of a new policy paradigm. The article supports this claim first by describing change over time, characterizing it as shift from a paradigm in which parents have full responsibility for their children's well-being to one that can be labeled an investing-in-children paradigm, in which responsibility for children's well-being is shared by families and the broader community. In each case, the role of the state and its public policy choices are quite different. The article next accounts for the change, attributing it not only to new social and economic risks but also to the work of a social-learning network made up of advocates and experts from civil society and inside the state. /// Depuis les années 1980 et 1990, les politiques publiques dont le titre contient les mots "enfant" ou "enfance" ont proliféré au Canada. L'auteure de cet article soutient que ce changement de perspective annonce l'émergence d'un nouveau paradigme de politiques publiques. L'argument est formulé en deux étapes. Dans la première partie, ce changement est décrit et analysé comme le mouvement d'un paradigme dans lequel les parents ont toute la responsabilité du bien-être de leurs enfants vers un paradigme dans lequel la collectivité partage cette responsabilité avec les parents, à savoir un paradigme "d'investissement dans l'enfant". Le rôle de l'État et les choix de politiques publiques diffèrent d'un paradigme à l'autre. Dans la deuxième partie, les facteurs à l'origine de ce changement sont présentés: l'é mergence de nouveaux risques économiques et sociaux; les interventions d'un réseau d'apprentissage social composé d'experts travaillant au sein de la société civile et de l'appareil d'État.
ISSN:0318-6431
1710-1123
1710-1123
DOI:10.1353/cjs.2004.0025