There is No Such Thing as Society (Research Paper Sample)

There's No Such Thing as Society
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Abstract
For several years, leaders within the British political sphere have supported a policy-formulation framework that dissociates from socialist norms and values. The events began to unfold after Margaret Thatcher’s election into the Prime Minister’s role and her revolutionary statements. For instance, Thatcherism bases on the famous proclamation: “there’s is no such thing as society.” Since then, public discourse on affirmative action has bordered on the issue of childcare, albeit precipitated by budgetary constraints and unbecoming circumstances. Deaths of children due to a partisan care delivery service have illustrated the need for children's participation and sufficient intervention programs. This research established that England has relied on the proclamations of The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child when initiating Local Authorities and Care Programs. Local laws, including the Childcare Act 2016 have also corrected prevailing anomalies and enhanced the voice of the child. The garnered evidence proves the dominance of Conservatism and illustrates that Thatcher’s statement heralded a new age, free from previous state machinations and collective ideologies.

Keywords: Thatcher, Thatcherism, Conservative, The United Nation Convention on the Rights of the Child, Childcare, socialist, Labour
There's No Such Thing as Society

Introduction
Often, stakeholders within childcare institutions in the UK interrogate the potential for improved services and outcomes. Most times, the core arguments premise on efficiency, within proponents and opponents differing based on potential government impact on service delivery and market failures. On the demand side, child care could experience hindrances due to choices about parental employment and hours of services. With implications for quality, government officers prefer to decide optimal strategies that consider long-term interests and appeal to short-term goals about electoral outcomes. To that end, Margaret Thatcher’s 1987 statement, arguing that “there’s no such thing as society” highlighted a changing political landscape and advocated for an individualistic and profit-motivated approach to social discourse. Regardless of the counteracting institutional, social, and fiduciary constraints, Thatcher’s postulations instigated an increase in programs such as tax credits for employed parents, regulatory frameworks, and free public nurseries within childcare. 

Scholars have expounded the Conservative thought-frame and highlighted that addressing child poverty requires unprecedented solutions. Life outcomes correlate with development during early childhood and depend on factors such as family background, good parenting, parental education, healthy pregnancy, secure maternal bonding, and mental health, responsiveness and love, and health services. According to Welstead (n.d.):

Local Authorities should open up Children’s Centres or services within them and ensure that there is not waste by a replication of existing services. These centres should become the hub of the local community and include parenting classes for all new parents. Midwives and health visitors would work closely with the Centres. (p.14)
The author proposes that succeeding governments should embody Thatcher’s ideas and clamor for empowered individuals who disdain socialistic values. Effective strategies toward that end could maintain a Conservative theme through policies aimed at maternal employment, free nursery places, and childcare subsidies. 

Socio-Political Context
According to most historians, Margaret Thatcher’s reign as Britain’s Prime Minister coincided with significant transformations within public policy. Indeed, she altered a hitherto socialist economy and instituted capitalistic norms that accentuated productivity, albeit at the expense of previous state ownership programs. Bolick (1995) states that when Thatcher ascended to power, Britain’s industries were inefficient, and “the country was wracked by constant labor turmoil, with violent strikes and long interruptions of essential services” (p.529). Further, during her initial year as prime minister, inflation increased, the pound weakened, tax rates exacerbated, and the public sector assumed a significant role within communities. As a result, she based her leadership on the qualities that prompted her ascension to the chairman position within the Labor Party, especially those that resonated with the problematic economic situation. Perhaps, her statement which alluded that “there's no such thing as society”, premised on the intent to initiate public policy transformations and enact radical change. 

As a conservative, the prime minister enacted Victorian values such as thrift and self-reliance. Indeed, “she presented herself to the public not as a scholarship girl who had found her vocation in the city body of dreaming spires, nor yet as a successful tax lawyer and denizen of Chelsea, but as a grocer’s daughter from Grantham who was still living, metaphorically speaking, above the shop.” (Samuel, 1992, pp. 13-14). During her reign, a considerate reapplication of Victorian values such as self-reliance coincided with previous public concerns for economic growth and past-present relations. According to her, private enterprise:
Was not only economically efficient, it was also ethically beautiful. Harnessing the self-regarding virtues to the higher good. Protectionism, whether in the field of trade unionism, state intervention or local government, bred monopoly; welfare was enervating; bureaucracy was an invitation to extravagance and sloth. (Samuel, 1992, 17)
Concerning children, Thatcher espoused canons that embodied her childhood within working-class families, often accentuated through street performances, children's games, street parties, and summer outings. Her Puritan values reflected her conservativeness and resonated with Victorian values, through reference to provincial and Methodist nuances. 

Services, Children, and Their Families
Since Thatcher’s reign, child protection has expanded and included spheres relating to criminal justice, disclosure and barring, public protection, and statutory, private, or voluntary settings. Parton (2015) explains the development by stating that “recent years have also witnessed the emergence of new types of scandal, often historical in nature, and which have included the abusive and exploitative behaviour of a series of high profile celebrities” (p.4). For many years, proponents have argued about the inadequacies of child protection systems, laxity exhibited by agencies and professionals, and child abuse scandals. Therefore, child protectionists recognize the correlation between abuse scandals and policy changes, as exemplified through the campaign, legislative, and executive actions. Parton (2015) suggests a novel approach that places children's perspectives at the centre and acknowledges the pertinence of structural factors such as gender, social isolation, and inequality. At present, though still aligned to Thatcher’s principles, child protection assumes a retrospective methodology, entailing what-ifs, and designed to decipher disruptions, opportunities, and continuities. 

England’s government is cognizant of the need for child protection and therefore often advocates for early intervention programs. Indeed, the deaths of Victoria Climbiй and Baby P, both facilitated by inept collaborative practices, manifested the inadequacies within children's protective systems in the UK (Welstead, n.d., pp.1-2). Perhaps a major anomaly within the British methodology pertains to the incorporation of bureaucratic systems that prioritize rules and ignores necessities. When seeking to reflect a child-centred system, social policy practitioners should avoid simplistic solutions and inadequate professional continuity. As Welstead (n.d.) states: 
Children who have been badly treated often feel powerless and vulnerable; intervention without allowing them to voice their needs can exacerbate those feelings. Older children can speak for themselves; younger children need empathetic professionals who are able to interpret their needs for them. (p.8)

A better approach might entail a holistic system, which encourages children's protectors to respect rules and incorporate personal judgments that base on situational complexity. Considering that brain changes begin before birth, the England government should enhance child protection through cost-effective policies that compensate for ineffective public policies. 

Welfare and the Welfare-State
During Thatcher’s reign, key government policies leaned toward control of public spending, privatisation, inequality, and targeting. At that time, politics circled the theme of tax cuts and reductions in personal credit responsibility. While differing from Thatcher’s supporters, scholars argue that the conservative reign precipitated a correlating increase in higher VAT and National Insurance Contributions (NIC). Unfortunately, “by 1991, those over statutory pension age (65 for men and 60 for women) made up 18.5 per cent of the population, compared to 15.8 per cent in 1971” (Hills, 1998, p.5). To counter the objective reality, the government rolled out socialist programs such as the “Right to Buy” within housing markets. Indeed, a major criticism upon government policy and the Conservative welfare policies regards income inequality, despite technologi...