David Cameron has pledged to make Britain the most family friendly country in Europe, and Nick Clegg has said ‘we are not casual about the pressure that many parents feel’, and recognised that ‘Financial hardship, the stress and conflict it causes, can be hugely disruptive for families’.
Yet one in twelve households had experienced relationship problems as a result of financial difficulties, and the family breakdown which can result from this costs the taxpayer up to £42 billion a year.
Using purchasing power parity, UK energy costs have been among the lowest in Europe, and UK food costs around the average, although fuel costs are no doubt rising from their 2009 level of 5% of household budgets, and food inflation is rising at 6.3% compared with a Eurozone average of 1.5%. But, though inflation and world events are adding to immediate pressures, there are more serious, longer-term, financial pressures on UK families:
• 13.9% of UK households with dependent children have household debt more than 100% of their monthly disposable income. This is the highest in Europe, equal with Germany (Eurostat, latest data 2008).
• 15.4% of UK households with dependent children experience housing cost overburden, the fourth highest in Europe (Eurostat, latest data 2009).
• We have the third highest childcare costs as a percentage of family income, 23.5% (Eurostat, latest data 2004).
Relationships Foundation is asking five questions of the Chancellor:
• What measures would need to be taken to reduce the financial pressures on families in the UK to a level comparable with the top five family friendly countries in Europe?
• Given the Prime Minister’s commitments, has every initiative in this budget been tested against the benchmark of whether it makes Britain more or less family-friendly?
• If this is a growth budget, will the Government commit to bringing forward a family friendly budget next year?
• What long term strategy does the Government have for reducing family breakdown, and reducing the costs of family breakdown?
• How often has the Childhood and Families Taskforce met, and what impact has it had on this budget?
Michael Trend, Executive Director of Relationships Foundation, says:
“Employment is the crucial route out of our social and economic problems, but David Cameron will repeat the mistakes of the past if he drives the economy at the expense of family and community.”
“Family stability has a huge impact on children, parents and on wider social issues. Until the coalition realises that getting family life right delivers the biggest reform in almost every area of public life, it cannot hope to achieve its goals.
“The Government have delayed for months the question of how Britain will become the most family friendly country in Europe.”
For more information download our briefing in advance of the budget, or contact Sam Barker, Head of Family Policy.