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Lots of interesting articles by our team about marriage and commitment, family policy, our research findings and other marriage-related stuff

The fish are doing just fine : Understanding how a headline upward blip in divorce conceals the long term downward trend

Imagine an enormous fish tank. In it are fish of all different sizes, all swimming around happily together. It’s easy to tell how long any

October 24, 2017 3 Comments

IDS should champion marriage, not relationship counselling

Former welfare minister Iain Duncan Smith has this week warned the government not to cut the annual £7.5 million funding for relationship counselling. But is

August 30, 2017 1 Comment

The Google memo writer says men and women are different. He’s right.

An internal memo from a Google employee about diversity has caused a furore. An extract from our book “What Mums Want: And Dads Need To

August 9, 2017 2 Comments

Smart dads, smart kids?

I like paradoxes. So here’s one. How come less than half of all school leavers have both English and Maths GCSE at grade C or

June 7, 2017 1 Comment

Marriage-rich Cabinet need to back marriage

I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised. It’s the nature of being an incurable optimist. Assuming the best also means having to deal with disappointment.

June 5, 2017 No Comments

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.

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