American neoliberals saw family altruism as a substitute for the welfare state

Evidence

Becker’s abiding concern with the destructive effects of public spending on the family represents a key element of his microeconomics—but one that is consistently overlooked by the critical literature. At different times and in different contexts, each of the key figures of American neoliberalism can be found invoking the idea that the “natural obligations” of family should serve as a substitute for the welfare state, indeed that the “altruism” of the family represents a kind of primitive mutual insurance contract that we would do well to revive today. From here derives the notion, now pervasive in American welfare practice, that the state has the right to identify and enforce legal obligations of marital support and child custody even when the parties concerned do not consent to or recognize this relationship. In the absence of a suitable family structure, the state is authorized to enforce the sexual contract just as it is authorized to enforce work. — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 213

Categorization

• XREF: Reverses the crude caricature that neoliberals want the state out of private life entirely — connects to Foucault’s biopolitics and Becker’s human capital work on the reader’s shelf. — connects to: Family loyalty is central, not marginal, to American neoliberal welfare theory — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 213; Neoliberalism paired deregulation with social conservatism to shift welfare onto families — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 37; Decades of neoliberal reform reinstated the family as first-line welfare provider — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 260 (+5 more)
• DEFINE: Clarifies the ‘family as primitive mutual insurance contract’ mechanism inside neoclassical welfare thinking.

Broader Connections

• Family loyalty is central, not marginal, to American neoliberal welfare theory #corroborates (0.95) — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 213
• Neoliberal economists saw the family as a privatized insurance that welfare destroyed #corroborates (0.85) — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 239
• Neoliberalism paired deregulation with social conservatism to shift welfare onto families #exemplifies (0.80) — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 37
• Decades of neoliberal reform reinstated the family as first-line welfare provider #expands (0.80) — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 260
• Families and neighborhoods were promoted to replace a dismantled welfare state #corroborates (0.80) — Anton Jäger, Hyperpolitics, 99
• Reagan’s California welfare reform enacted neoliberal family-responsibility policies #exemplifies (0.75) — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 242
• American neoliberals defended kinship bonds as noncontractual obligations and opposed no-fault divorce #expands (0.75) — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 214
• Neoliberals monetized family practice by treating welfare as perverse incentive. #expands (0.75) — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 236