Social policies are the actions of governments, such as legal laws. They have a direct impact on citizens, for e.g. may provide them with services or income. Social policies are created after Sociology research identifies social problems of society, for e.g. policies put in place to help vulnerable children (adopted/abused), as they are highly likely to end up in gangs, as drug addicts or prostitutes. These policies tackle social problems e.g. increasing payment for foster/ adoptive careers to reduce vulnerable children getting involved with crime.

There are several factors which influence whether something will became a social policy. The type of political party in power effects social policies, as different parties have different agendas and concerns, for e.g. Labour wanted to help teenagers who weren’t going into further education by providing them with practical apprentices. The state of economy and how much social policy will cost taxpayers is another factor, for e.g. education monthly allowance for college students was abolished after the recession. Political parties also create policies due to an upcoming election to win over voters, for e.g. in the next general election the Conservative party who raised university fees up to £9000 per year, may lower the price.

If the sociologist’s findings are in line with the Europe Union, that policy is likely to be implanted as the EU has a big influence over its members, for e.g. the EU ruled that British car insurance firms couldn’t charge male drivers more than females, as that is based purely on gender.

If the research is by a sociologist critical of the government than it won’t be listened to, for e.g. Marxist sociologists probably won’t be funded by government as they want restructure of society’s superstructure from capitalism to communism, as they think that the worlds wealth is unfairly controlled by a