In this scenario individuals have immediate access to ever increasing amounts of globally available information. The problem they have is in knowing which information to trust. Consequently, people feel empowered by their access to information but at the same time anxious about the status of information and the purpose of their lives. Therefore people have had to debate amongst themselves in changing networks and groups the ethical and practical issues. Typically, groups emphasise the ethics of individual choice and arrive at conclusions which privilege choice and diversity over uniform regulations.
Science is treated as just one view of the world among many.
Institutions in the public private and voluntary sectors frequently change and they are not widely trusted. It is often sporadic and locally-based even if influenced by a global agenda of political, economic and environmental concerns. Partnership means that the success of each organisation depends upon the success of all others in the partnership but there is no single way in which partnerships are held together and there is a relentless search for effective, fair and accountable ways of organising. Although the decline of the traditional family prompts concerns about supporting children to be responsible adults, there is a variety of family forms and public policy is focused on supporting children irrespective of the choices of the parents. The most common experience for poorer children is to grow up in a family comprised of their mother and a peripheral, shifting group of childcare workers, friends and serial quasi-fathers.