“Well-being can't be measured by money or

traded in markets. It can't be required by law or

delivered by government. It's about the beauty of

our surroundings, the quality of our culture, and

above all the strength of our relationships.

Improving our society's sense of well-being is, I

believe, the central political challenge of our

times.”

David Cameron's speech to Google Zeitgeist Europe 2006

Low income couples – both married and cohabiting – with children

under five are twice as likely to split up, compared to couples on

average income of the same marital status.

Benefit Lone parents Couple parents

Housing 60% 10%

Out-of-work tax credits

40% 10%

Children from single parent families are more likely to have emotional and behavioural problems and fare much less well in life than children brought up in households with 2 biological parents. They are:

• 75% more likely to fail at school

• 35% more likely to be unemployed

• and twice as likely to abuse alcohol and drugs

sliding

v

deciding

How did you start living together?

• 1/3 “We didn’t think about it or plan it, we slid into it.”

• 1/3 “We talked about it, but then it just sort of happened.”

• 1/3 “We talked about it, planned it, and then made a decision together to do it.”

Duration of cohabitations (never married) by eventual outcome

Proportions of first cohabitations that were still intact, had converted to marriage, or had dissolved by two, five and

ten years after the start of the union

Proportion of married and cohabiting couples still together 16 years after the birth of a child, in 1992/3 and 2006/7

The benefits of marriage

• Marriage makes people far less likely to suffer psychological illness.

• Married people live much longer.

• Marriage makes people healthier and happier.

• Both men and women benefit, though some have found that men gain more.

The cost of relationship breakdown

• £41 billion each year

• £1400 per taxpayer

“We are experiencing a period of family meltdown whose effects will be as catastrophic as the meltdown of the ice caps. . . It will be more destructive than any economic decline caused by international market or financial movements triggered by mismanagement by financial institutions.”

Mr Justice Coleridge, 2008

Family Policy

• To promote wellbeing, which depends significantly on family and other relationships.

• To increase social mobility. Families are a key source of social capital, which provides opportunities and the capability to take advantage of them.

• To reduce the social and economic costs and consequences of weak and fractured relationships. We can no longer ignore the cost of family breakdown.

Couple Relationship Education

‘The average person who participated in a premarital prevention programme was better off after the programme than 79% of the people who did not receive a similar education experience.’

• The ‘Big Society’ needs families

• Families are the most crucial mediating institution