Britain’s level of family breakdown, currently the worst in Europe, is primarily driven by three factors: the commonality of divorce; a decline in marriage – the number choosing to marry in 2007 was nearly half that of the early 1970s; and some of highest cohabitation rates in the Western world – a relationship structure significantly less stable than marriage.
These trends, overseen and orchestrated by government, have been wrongly dismissed for too long as private ‘lifestyle choices’. Instead, they significantly impact our children and shape our society.
Children of lone parent families, which usually means fatherless, are 75 per cent more likely to fail at school; 70 per cent more likely to be a drug addict; 50 per cent more likely to develop an alcohol problem; 40 per cent more likely to have serious personal debt problems; and 35 per cent more likely to experience unemployment and welfare dependency.
And annually we spend between £600 and £800 per taxpayer – or more than £20billion, picking up the pieces of family breakdown, yet only 60 pence per taxpayer preventing it. Not to mention the burgeoning costs of crime, educational failure and worklessness – all fuelled by breakdown of family life.
In Every Family Matters, a review commissioned following Breakthrough Britain, we highlight the critical role family law plays in shaping expectations and patterns for family life, as well as responding when it comes under strain.
We call for a legal system that supports family and equips those who are married, one that reflects the nature and pressures of modern day relationships, and one that protects often neglected children.
Community advice, delivered through Family Relationship Hubs, would protect against breakdown; leaving a European club of one to join nations valuing marriage in the tax and benefits system would reassert its uniqueness; introducing mandatory mediation where children are involved, and a ‘cooling off’ period prior to divorce proceedings, would help saveable marriages and reduce damage where separation is pursued.
Central to each of our 131 recommendations is an understanding that healthy marriages build healthy families, and healthy families build a healthy society. Rebuilding our broken society should start there.
Comment by Christopher Hunt on July 21, 2009 at 12:07 am
It is facile to suggest that family breakdown is driven by the commonality of divorce, the decline in marriage and cohabitation. These are just the visible signs of family breakdown. The real reasons are many and various and include poverty, lack of education, poor social skills and modern youth culture. Working on these and other underlying causes before partnerships form is ten times better than trying to prop up failing relationships through the law and through the tax system.
Comment by pamela on August 13, 2009 at 11:51 pm
I was at the launch of the publication Every Family Matters. Thanks to
Iain Duncan Smith for his support to families and his proposed reforms for family law. We need the conservatives not only to support families but also health education and pensioners we need the consevatives to heal this country.
Comment by Natalie on December 8, 2009 at 10:37 am
I disagree with Christopher Hunt. As a first time mum at the age of 33 I am recovering from a very serious post-natal depression (I come from a stable and loving family and I am well educated (BA Hons in History of Art). It is my family who have helped me through this difficult time and my poor husband has stuck by 100% thus putting a huge strain on his career and our marriage. And because we earn over the bracket we are not currently entitled to any tax benefits from the government. Something has to change
Comment by Oliver on January 4, 2010 at 10:07 pm
Change the contract – forget the marriage contract – the contract, is a birth certificate and the contract is with your child. This would prevent many of the arguements in divorce cases and place the responsibility on the parent when a child is born. Marriage contracts are an ancient religious invention and realistically difficult to sustain with human nature, parental bond are much stronger and a contract at birth would reinforce this
Comment by Tara on January 28, 2010 at 8:04 pm
I’ll share my story with you which I think is a good example of how the current benefits system is unfair to couples.
I worked for 5 years and paid NI – since moving to this country. My partner is British. In June 08 I set out as self-employed and with small earings exemption didn’t pay NI for a while. Then I got unwell and was claiming ESA while also got accodentally pregnant. We kept the baby, born in June. Since April 09 I was on maternity leave receiving maternoty allowance only.
Now it’s ended and I’m looking for a job. I’ve applied for job-seekers allowance and I was told I’m not eligible. As I haven’t paid enough contributions in 08/09 tax year I can only claim income-based JSA. However they looked that my partner is earning money – and somehow Job Centre presumes it’s a lot for a couple with a baby and a mortgage in London. So I’m not entitled to that either. And basically I can just go and starve myself until I manage to find a job!
On the other hand, if I was single with no father on the birth certificate – I would get milk vouchers, higher rate JSA, council tax support, mortgage interest paid or rent paid, deent amount of tax credits…
I don’t think it’s fair. I don’t think people should be put in a situation when they think they are better off financially as single people rather than a couple. And that children are better off being from lone-parent families than a 2-parent family.
We can’t sell the house as the prices are not up enough yet to cover the mortgage. So we are basically stuck where we are, with the bills we have to pay yet very little money to survive on until I manage to get a job. They may say we are out of the recession – but it’s not very obvious when job hunting! I do hope we will win the election and get things right!
Comment by Paul Doxey on February 1, 2010 at 11:41 am
Dear Ian,
I fear that the pont has been missed, under CMEC with effect fron the 14.04.10 then the folowing will come into force.
‘In the calculation of any out of work benefit with respect to a parent who has day to day care of any child/children, then if mainteneance is in payment it will not be taken into acoount in the calculation of any out of work benefit. This means that they will be able to keep every peny of the maintenace paid’
The more people that I inform this point, and it is on CMEC web site, the more incensed they become.
It is because they realise that a single mother with 2/3 children will receive more tax free income than they can earn. This is not the way to mend society! Irresponsibility is not to be rewarded in this way as it will dived society even more becuase the earner will also have to pay more tax and council tax to take home less to support their families.
Where is the Justice in that?
Comment by andrew smith on February 9, 2010 at 6:36 am
I agree 100% the current governments policy towards the family is woefully wrong – like alot of Blairs policies they were way out and off target. It was as if he was working a communist agenda but hammering the traditional family values that support the country and rule of law. For example I have 3 kids my wife cant work because it would cost £1500 a month childcare so I find it laughable and madness that the system supports and positively discriminates towards the single parent who not only would receive at least 90% of the childcare payments but would also get working tax credit of several thousands by getting a poxy part time job and pay no tax. If the labour officals spoke to the grassroots they would also understand that this system assists cheats, eg if my wife declared she was a single parent she would receive over £10,000 support, nobody can monitor these situations. In fact please note Mr Brown I think I have discovered how you can pay off that £178 billon debt you have knocked up…No on second thoughts just leave it to the tories 16 yrs of this government is enough labour for a lifetime.. http://www.changewedontsee.com would be a better name for the labour website.
Come on Gordon dont be scared call the election, go on the tories win, win, win!
Comment by Elaine on April 16, 2010 at 5:57 pm
I am a single parent (not by choice) and I can assure you I am not discriminated towards, I’d also like to know where this 10,000 comes from and where’s mine !! I work full time and am also studying for my second degree due to having to change my career to accomodate my childcare problems, I can assure Mr Smith I pay considerable tax in my full time not poxy part time job, which incidentally is still a job !! As a single parent I could never get 90% of my childcare costs I got the same as everyone els and like EVERY ONE ELSE including your family received government funding when my children were three. Incidentally I am not in favour of another labour government I simply do not know where to go .
Comment by kathy on May 2, 2010 at 12:09 pm
I am also a singleparent, again not by choice, I have also worked and studied since having children. I am very lucky that I have had a supportive family and church who have filled in the childcare gaps for me. I appreciate child tax credits, and do not take them for granted, and hope one day I wont need any support from them. I would not have been able to leave a dangerous marriage and protect my children without them. Most of the single mums I talk to, agree , that the child tax credit system let them get to a place of safety. I run a group for singleparents all who work, all who would rather not have been singleparents. They have kept their families together through extremely difficult situations and in many cases protected their children from expartners, for which there has been no support from social services. It is very difficult being a single parent, you can not begin to imagine until you are in the situation. Every hour of the day is spent putting my time and energy into my children so they can grow up to be responsible citizens, despite what they have suffered from my marriage breakdown and following court case. And those of us who have sons are desparate for male role models, more male teachers, more men offering to mentor our sons, to show them how men should behave within a family.
Comment by Mal Van Schaick on June 15, 2010 at 8:44 pm
I have paid child support from day one. All that I have had is continued incompetence and maladministration from csa staff. They pick on the ‘soft targets’ continually because it’s too hard to track down absent parents who have NEVER paid a penny. This stupid system is devisive and criminalises decent people for the sake of the public purse. CSA?CMEC should be shut down now. Mediation is the way forward by helping people to resolve their difference for the sake of the children. My ex is bitter and twisted. She has used my own children as weapons against me and in doing so has alienated the children from me. The courts don’e care. They use the system as a cash machine to spend on a luxury lifestyle! Politiicans have got it absolutely wrong and the best part is (in our new era of open, inclusive politics) is that they don’t even consult parents, as they are too busy bowing down to the EU, and attempting to enforce draconian methods to criminalise and persecute decent people. What happens between parents and children has got nothing to do with medalling politicians or incompetent civil servants. I challenge Duncan Smith to meet parents and discuss this ludicrous system and have it scrapped altogether. The administrative costs plus executives pay outweigh the collection rates. CMEC is also a run for profit company. What sort of a society is it, that allows politiicans to form run for profit compnaies, appointing board mambers on to it? It wreaks of corruption and collusion! Shut it down now!
Comment by Brian Alsford on July 4, 2010 at 11:20 am
Dear Ian Duncan Smith,
I have worked hard and paid much tax over the years, I think I represent the middle-class tax payer. This group are in the main overworked and over taxed. We are also the “engine room” of the economy. We live alongside benefit claimants for whom work cannot be found.
My proposal is something that I have never seen discussed on political forums, although I apologise if you have already considered and dismissed such in the past. The proposal represents a massive social change, inspired by a change in the tax system as follows:
1. Give taxpayers a “Credit Voucher” each month to spend on personal help.
2. Pay the unemployed for the amount of vouchers they earn and reclaim from the existing DWP unemployment fund.
The effects of this change would be that (a) new work would be generated by people too busy to do it themselves (house cleaning and decorating, gardening), (b) vouchers could be gifted to social services and charitable organisations to help the unfortunate, (c) the unemployed would become employed, perhaps working for themselves directly or via organisations set up to manage and quality control the work done, (d) our “engine room” of tax payers would be given more free time to spend on themselves.
Its so simple that I wonder if I am missing the point. I hope not and I hope that you find this idea helpful.
Comment by Nick Gulliford on August 2, 2010 at 8:22 am
I’d like to correct the Comment by Oliver on January 4, 2010 at 10:07 pm. Marriage is not a contract in this country. It is a status created by two covenants. I know the £4bn a year ‘Family Law’ lobby are trying to turn marriage into a contract with their demands for legally enforceable prenuptial agreements and conferring marital rights and obligations on cohabiting couples. But this is just one more attempt to muddy the waters to create more opportunities for litigation. Good for lawyers, but not for marriage. I hope very much the Conservatives won’t go along with it.
There was talk a while back about why children should be taught history. The history of marriage evolving into its most sublime form as a status created by two covenants should not be destroyed by turning it back into a contract which it has been in times past. This would be self defeating.
On 10th April 2010 on BBC News David Willetts explained the proposed transferable tax allowance between spouses very well. I hope it will – in due course – be extended to the full allowance, as it is only equitable that couples who have made a lifetime commitment should be able to share it.
Comment by Steve on August 25, 2010 at 1:13 pm
Rt Hon Iain Duncan Smith, Thursday, July 16th, 2009
If we look back over the past 40 years mum was at home looking after the family unit while dad was at work. Our government and self-indulgent greed over the past 40 years has slowly eroded the family unit; we have no time for our children they are being left to fend for themselves in an ever-increasing society of self-indulgence.
The continuing rise in the cost of living now dictates that the average family today needs to earn around £30.000 to £40.000 a year just to survive, most of this amount is required to meet family bills and tax payments, very little if any is left over for family entertainment, functions days out holidays etc. In today’s society both mum and dad need to work just to keep their heads above water.
Many of the jobs today do not fall into the £30.000 a year earnings category; this again leaves the welfare state to carry the can replacing the deficit in ones pay packet with tax credits and other benefits.
When we take a look at the present employment situation within the UK, many jobs out there require some form of skill or trade qualifications, even workers who have worked in trades such as building or machinery for the past 20-30 years now have to have a bit of paper that states they can do the job? Just as our road haulage drivers now need the CPC to keep theirs, I wonder if our MP’s need the same or do we allow them to do their jobs without question.
The world has gone crazy, certificates for this certificates for that red tape restricting everything we can do or say, is it not time to return to the old days where if you could do the job you got the job.
I would sooner have a builder build me a house who’s been in the trade for over 40 years than one who has a bit of paper saying he can, I would sooner have a Police officer investigate a crime who has been there, seen it and done it, rather than the one who has a bit of paper saying he can, it’s common knowledge that not everyone with high levels of education actually have a brain to deal with everyday life, some can’t change a spark plug or complete the simplest of home DIY tasks, how can they govern us or run our businesses?
We need to get real in this country, bring back some form of simplicity, everything is concentrated around money and wealth, have any of you tried living on the bare minimum, telling your kids they can’t have this and that as well as the wife, well it’s about time you did get rid of the bank loans the credit cards & the 4×4 what do you need them for?
The roof over your head and food in your tummy is far more important, would you rather spend quality time with your family watching your children grow, teaching them right from wrong or would you prefer to let the rest of society take responsibility for your unsociable young offspring’s failure.
Britain needs to change, it needs to become one again we need to start talking to our neighbours again & offer help when help is required, stop at the roadside & assist that stranded lady, you know the things we used to do?
David Cameron’s Big Society will work but for it to work we must as a nation start working together, this does not mean attacking those who are less fortunate or wealthy then us, life is precious, time is precious, how about getting some of it back to make this country great once again.
Those of you who say you don’t have the time to contribute to such a society are obviously earning too much and wasting the valuable time you could be spending with your families, think on? You only live once no second chances, do you really want to forfeit a good life for money & your health at the end of the day or are you prepared to lose to gain?
Britain’s recovery has to start somewhere, rich or poor we all have to make sacrifices for those of you who are not money orientated this process will be easy, but for those of you who are money orientated even tougher times lay ahead.
Lastly. I noticed that many contributors take a dig at the unemployed. Please don’t forget that one day your job could come to an end, none of us know what’s around the corner, so when you take a dig at the unemployed of this country think on because one day you too could become a government statistic.
I pay my taxes & I have no problem with genuine unemployed people of society who are trying to find suitable work that will support their families, however those who maintain benefits as a lifetime support feature should be assisted to move away from such by gaining help and assistance to do so, not by placing their families into further poverty.