The title of this book reflects three of the key debates of postwar Britain: the roles of mothers, fathers and the wider family in bringing up children; the nature of poverty; and the role of public policy in both family life and tackling poverty. The book aims to provide an overview of family policy and how it has changed during the last 20 years; to set out the evidence base on factors influencing children's and family outcomes; and to assess how well policies address the reality of parenting and family life.

Through the lens of poverty, we analyse the attempts that successive governments have made to improve outcomes for children by reducing pressures on families and increasing the capabilities of parents and children. We argue that both are essential: reducing pressures by reducing child poverty; and improving capabilities by providing adequate support for parents and children. We have chosen to focus on children's outcomes that are most amenable to the influence of parents, in particular, children's cognitive and social and emotional skills, which mould their life chances as children, young people and adults. Therefore, we look mainly at policies aimed at parents but include some, like childcare, that can be seen as policies to improve child capabilities while also reducing pressures on parents. We concentrate on the lens of poverty because of its strong relationship with long-term outcomes for children, but we accept that strengths and risks occur across all social classes. These areas of social policy have changed beyond recognition since 1945. We particularly concentrate on the last two decades, reviewing changing socio-economic/demographic trends, public attitudes, behaviours and government policy from the beginnings of New Labour in 1997 through to the Brexit-plagued Conservative government of 2018. Why these three issues?

Parents

Eminent child psychiatrist Sir Michael Rutter was once asked what advice he would give to a child growing up today; ‘Choose your parents wisely’, he said.1 It is difficult to overstate the importance of the role of mothers and fathers on child outcomes. There is no doubt that schools can and do make a difference, and children's own individuality has an impact on outcomes; a combination of genetic predispositions, early environment and wider support systems beyond the immediate family all matter to child outcomes.