Focus on ‘the family’? How South African family policy could fail us

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"Current social policies, however, seem to focus on family structure rather than family functioning – in other words, on what families look like rather than how they behave".

This latest policy brief, written by the HSRC and CSSR Researchers, raises concerns around current White Paper on Families in South Africa (DSD 2012). The authors have the following recommendations:

  1. Shift policy focus from family form to family functioning (including power relations).
  2. Take a broader view of ‘care’.
  3. Locate policy in context.
  4. Recognise people’s freedom to intimate association.

You can access this policy brief on our website under the policy briefsection.