October 2014 - Marriage Foundation

The Sunday Times: “Marriage is a choice, a pledge, a commitment — it is a conscious decision with big life-enhancing powers”

A judge’s claim that marriage and shacking up are the same is nonsense — even a Hollywood A-lister knows it What is the difference between marriage and cohabitation? According to Sir Nicholas Mostyn, a High Court family judge and one of the ultimate legal arbiters of such important questions — nothing. In a landmark speech […]

UK lone parent capital of Western Europe

Latest data shows the UK has the highest rate of family breakdown in Western Europe. Figures calculated by Eurostat, the EU’s primary statistics body, and uncovered by The Marriage Foundation show that, for the first time, the UK has the highest proportion of children living in lone parent households of all the countries in Western […]

Family breakdown costs £50bn a year

When couples split up, families move from one to two households. Poverty is a common outcome that affects children. Six out of ten lone parents are supported by the state compared to one out of ten couple parents. That's where most of the £50bn is spent.

UK Among highest family breakdown in Europe

Five years ago, the UK had the highest rate of family breakdown in Europe. We're not doing as badly today, but only because of big falls in divorce rates. Alas there's no sign of a similar improvement among cohabitees

Lower Divorce Rates – Higher Lone Parents

Divorce rates have plummeted over the past 3 decades, but the number of lone parents has doubled in the same period. Why?... Because unmarried parents make up only one in five cohabiting parents but are responsible for one half of all family breakdown.

Stability is found in Marriage

Whereas stability is the norm if parents are married (75% stay together), it is the exception if they are not (30% stay together). As a result, among parents of teens who are still together as a couple, nine out of ten are married

Single Most Important Factor

The single most important factor in a child’s healthy development is the stable relationship of the parents. Our groundbreaking research shows that family breakdown is the #1 predictor of teenage mental health problems.

The Marriage Foundation is registered as a charity in England and Wales.

Registered charity number: 1150453

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Month: October 2014

The Sunday Times: “Marriage is a choice, a pledge, a commitment — it is a conscious decision with big life-enhancing powers”

UK lone parent capital of Western Europe

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