In the first six years of Marriage Foundation we have focused on establishing the reality of family stability and instability: what actually happens to couples and their children, who stays together and who splits up. This is transforming the debate about marriage which, previously, had been obscured by myths and misconceptions.
This briefing note draws together our most significant findings to date.
See Our Top 10 Key Facts on Marriage
New Marriage Foundation research reveals the majority of couples who are unhappy when their first child is born are happy ten years later if they stay together.
Great British Bake Off winner Nadiya Hussain stunned the programme’s contemporary audience with her traditional views on family and her pride in her role providing
Marriage Foundation research finds couples who go on occasional date nights have 14 per cent lower odds of their relationship breaking down – but only
Low income parents in Scandinavia are amongst the least likely in Europe to be married, according to new research by Marriage Foundation. Norway, Sweden, Finland
New research by Marriage Foundation shows that marriage significantly improves the self-esteem of teenagers and improves their life chances. In the first ever UK report
Couples who have been married fifty years are over 200 times more likely to become centenarians than get a divorce, new research from Marriage Foundation
New research from Marriage Foundation has found celebrities are twice as likely to divorce as the rest of us. Marriage Foundation, the think tank founded
According to the Office for National Statistics, overall crude divorce rates are down by one third from the peak levels in the early 1990s and
Our new analysis of data from the UK survey Understanding Society shows that high conflict warring couples are a rarity among couples who split. The
New analysis of data from the Family Resources Survey and the General Household Survey shows that the trend away from marriage was largely confined to
According to the Office for National Statistics, 53% of births are to married parents. However this total figure conceals a dramatic variation in the prevalence
Over the past 35 years, nearly two million more children have been born into families that are breaking down as a result of the trend
As we transition our back catalogue of material to the format of our new site you can access it here.
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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