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Letter to the Times: Sir Paul Coleridge, 23 Dec 2021

FRAGMENTED FAMILIES Sir, Melanie Phillips’s excellent article (“Family fragmentation comes at a tragic cost”, Comment, Dec 21) could have been written after any of
Picture of Harry Benson

Harry Benson

FRAGMENTED FAMILIES
Sir, Melanie Phillips’s excellent article (“Family fragmentation comes at a tragic cost”, Comment, Dec 21) could have been written after any of the horrendous child murder cases that have arisen in the past few decades. It was my close involvement as a Family High Court judge with the Baby P family saga in 2008 (among many similar cases) that provoked my decision to found the Marriage Foundation more than ten years ago, precisely because the research showed then (and even more now) firstly that stable families are the bedrock of a child’s security, not only emotionally and psychologically but also physically; and secondly that such stability is three times more likely to be found within married families (including civil partnerships) rather than cohabiting families. Governments of all hues have known this for years but have refused to acknowledge it via legislation and other measures designed to encourage and support marriage and family stability. Meanwhile the desperately overworked social workers once again provide an easy scapegoat. Plus ça change.

Sir Paul Coleridge
Chairman, Marriage Foundation

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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