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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 psychology of commitment and marriage

Last week I had the great honour of presenting at the Budapest Demographic Summit. The conference was a celebration of Hungary’s ‘family friendly’ policies that

September 17, 2023 8 Comments

The church has surrendered on marriage

Today marks the launch of the Church of England’s report on Families and Households. You can download and read the report for yourself here. We

April 26, 2023 7 Comments

No fault. No divorce boom

Law changes have produced an expected blip in divorce at worst. Ministry of Justice family court statistics up to the end of December 2022 came

March 30, 2023 7 Comments

The problem isn’t childcare: It’s our perverse anti-family tax and benefits systems

This week the chancellor announced that from 2025 parents will be offered free childcare for their children as young as 9 months old. Whereas parents

March 17, 2023 8 Comments

The lockdown effect on births within marriage a year later

New births data for 2021 from the Office for National Statistics showed a sharp fall in births within marriage to below 50% for the first

January 19, 2023 7 Comments

Some – but only some – of the rise in divorce looks real

The Mail and Times are both reporting the latest Office for National Statistics figures on divorces in England & Wales for 2021, up 9.6% on

November 3, 2022 5 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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