This chapter does not try to answer the question ‘Is multiculturalism bad for women?’ Instead, it explores the implications of this debate for feminist theory and family law. Recent developments confirm that feminists working in the area of family law need to take this issue seriously. Legal problems arise in areas such as divorce and […]

One aspect of our contemporary reality to which feminists must now respond is multiculturalism. Increasingly, our societies are comprised of a great diversity of races, cultures and religions. This ‘factual multiculturalism’ is undisputed. What is more controversial is the normative claim that such diversity is a good thing and, more significantly, the demand that these […]

Maleiha Malik Feminism’s outstanding contribution as an ideology and a political movement has been its insistence that theory and practice are intimately connected. Theory mat­ters: not only because it can influence the way women are treated but also — and crucially — because it can influence women’s self-understanding. Yet, at the same time, thoughtful feminist […]

As far back as 1972, the government realised that the amalgamation of taxes and benefits presented daunting administrative challenges.[894] A key facet of the (later) Working Families Tax Credit was that it was to be paid to the earning family member through his or her employer. Thus, the credit would usually be paid to men, […]

[t]he decline in support for general rate reduction and the increase in support for working poor tax credits, but not child-care relief, suggests that the prime had the effect of making respondents think more of general redistribution to the poor: that the ‘problem’ of working mothers triggers an economic, not a familial demographic, 94 response.[888] […]

This section will consider, to some extent, why both men and women are taxed in the first place. Discussion will largely relate to concepts of societal obligation and citizenship. The very concept of citizenship, however, may ‘negat[e] consideration of gender-based inequalities’.[842] When ‘the paid worker in the public sphere is the model, and the appropriate […]

It is important to view tax credits within the context of tax legislation in its entirety, and not as a separate, independent, perhaps feminist initiative. As Blumberg famously argued in 1972, the forces which conspire to prevent women from having the access to work that men enjoy are to be found in a variety of […]

The family tax credits upon which this chapter will focus are relatively recent initiatives: Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit have been payable from April 2003.[802] Couples are required to apply for tax credits jointly, and members of couples are precluded from applying for tax credits separately.[803] The Child Tax Credit, which is the […]

Ann Mumford[795] Introduction As Sainsbury has compellingly argued, ‘the tax system is a crucial nexus of the state, the family, and the market’.[796] The intent of this chapter is to consider the current tax credit system for families, at the intersection of all of these factors. The impact of such initiatives on family decision making, […]

A development which has, perhaps, hidden the particular safety as well as physical and emotional needs of girls is what has been called the search for equivalence. This refers to the aim of some campaigning groups to gain equivalent public interest in the problems or misdeeds of the other gender where, historically, the focus has […]