Lead supervisor:
Dr Kate Marston 
Other supervisor(s):
- Dr Sophie Hallett
Start date: October 2024
Award: General
Subject Pathway:
Social Care, Social Work and Social Policy
Thematic Cluster:
Society and Well-Being Cluster
Chosen families? Exploring the effects of UK family policies on LGBTQ+ parenthood
There is an enduring narrative in the UK of ongoing progressive rights for LGBTQ+ people, but questions abound as to whether these rights are tailored to LGBTQ+ people’s lives, or whether they are simply an accommodation within existing rights frameworks (Carabine, 1996; Lawrence and Taylor, 2019; Gregory and Matthews, 2022). It has been argued that LGBTQ+ people are expected to assimilate into acceptable (read: heterosexual) life courses. This research will focus on LGBTQ+ parenthood and family.
The ‘family’ has always been a core basis for welfare in societies and therefore a concern of social policy scholars (Gregory and Matthews, 2022; Stewart, 2019; Williams, 2021). Within the UK’s mixed welfare economy, there are a range of policies related to the family and parenting including: parental leave and pay; child tax credits, Universal Credit eligibility; funded childcare; and IVF funding. But, as ideas of what constitutes a family are changing, and with no agreed-upon definition, there could be consequences for the impact of policy on people’s life choices (Cornford et al., 2013; Wilson, 2007). The aim of my research is therefore to explore what assumptions are made about ‘families’ within family and parenting policies in the UK and what this means for how queer families build their lives.