On this final day of marriage week, Relationships Foundation, the think tank for a better connected society, is calling for the Coalition Government and the Office for National Statistics to include measures of family stability in the general wellbeing measurement.
Despite the Prime Minister’s constant connection of well-being with happy families, the ONS has avoided talking about family in the consultation.
The consultation is a series of tickboxes with space for comments. The respondent is asked to tick what should be included. Although the consultation gives ‘Having good connections with friends and relatives’ as one of the options, it nowhere mentions family or family life.
It is odd that the ONS has neglected family because the Prime Minister has directly linked family and wellbeing.
- When he first raised the possibility of a measure in his 2008 Google Zeitgeist speech, he said: ‘What makes us happy, above all, is a sense of belonging – strong relationships with family and the immediate world around us’.
- When he announced the policy of measuring ‘General Well Being’ in his November 2010 speech to the Treasury, he said it is “so we can create a climate in this country that is more family-friendly and more conducive to the good life.”
It is clear that good family life promotes individual wellbeing and societal wellbeing:
- In Crime: An analysis of 4,000 offenders by the Youth Justice Board found that 70% were from broken families. 30% of respondents in the 2008-09 British Crime Survey saw the main cause of crime as the lack of discipline from parents.
- In Education: A Joseph Rowntree Foundation report found that children of separated parents perform less well in school and gain fewer educational qualifications, experience behavioural problems and leave school and home when young. Delegates at the annual conference of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers in 2008 said chaotic home lives and poverty made children unable to learn.
- In Health: Divorced men and women are about 35% more likely to consult their GPs than those who are married, while children of divorced parents are 50% more likely to be admitted to hospital or to suffer accidental injury or poisoning than children whose parents are not divorced.
Statistically, marriage continues to deliver better outcomes than cohabitation and lone parenting:
- Adults who live together are more similar to singles than to married couples in terms of physical health, emotional well-being, mental health as well as in assets and earnings.
- Children with cohabiting parents have outcomes more similar to children living with lone (or remarried) parents than to children from intact marriages.
Family stability is reducing:
- Marriage remains the most stable relationship, and the marriage rate is reducing.
- Cohabitation is rising, but on the latest British Household Panel Survey Evidence, a baby born to cohabiting parents is over ten times more likely to see its parents separate than one born to married parents (this is up from twice as likely 15 years ago).
- According to a study of longitudinal data by Harry Benson of the Bristol Community Family Trust, 48% of children born today will not still be living with both birth parents at 16.
Commenting, Michael Trend, Executive Director of the Foundation said:
“The Office for National Statistics wants the measure of national wellbeing to reflect ‘what matters most in people’s lives’: what could matter more than our relationship with our partners, parents, and children?”
“It is crucial that the ONS collects data on family life – Iain Duncan Smith has pledged to reintroduce marital status to DWP forms – we need the Cabinet to follow suit.
“Whether it is because of political correctness or data difficulties, it is pointless for the Government to shy away from family life if it wants this measure to have any validity.”
Notes to Editors
· The ONS is currently consulting on ‘new measures of national well-being’. The consultation closes on 15th April. Their website says ‘The aim is that these new measures will cover the quality of life of people in the UK, environmental and sustainability issues, as well as the economic performance of the country’. They are asking ‘what matters most in people’s lives and what is important for measuring the nation’s well-being. Their current list of ‘aspects that we know affect national well-being’ is:
- Income and wealth
- Job satisfaction and economic security
- Ability to have a say on local and national issues
- Having good connections with friends and relatives
- Present and future conditions of the environment
- Crime
- Health
- Education and training
- Personal and cultural activities, including caring and volunteering
· David Cameron Pledges
o When he first raised the possibility of a measure in his 2008 Google Zeitgeist speech, he said: ‘What makes us happy, above all, is a sense of belonging – strong relationships with family and the immediate world around us’.http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2006/may/22/conservatives.davidcameron
o When he announced the policy of measuring ‘General Well Being’ in his November 2010 speech to the Treasury, he said it is “so we can create a climate in this country that is more family-friendly and more conducive to the good life.”
http://www.number10.gov.uk/news/speeches-and-transcripts/2010/11/pm-speech-on-well-being-57569
Citations
o In Crime: An analysis of 4,000 offenders by the Youth Justice Board found that 70% were from broken families. (Youth Justice Board figures quoted in Ware, J. (2009), “Yes family breakdown is behind broken Britain”, Daily Mail, 11 Jul,www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1198962/Yes-family-breakdown-IS-broken-Britain-Top-judge-says-national-tragedy-attacks-BBC-suppressing-debate.html).
o 30% of respondents in the 2008-09 British Crime Survey identified the main cause of crime as the lack of discipline from parents. (Flood-Page, C., Campbell, S., Harrington, V. and Miller, J. (2000), “Youth crime: Findings from the 1998/99 Youth Lifestyles Survey”, Home Office Research Study, 209, London: Home Office). It also found “a close link between poor family relationships and a higher risk of offending”, and that:
§ “Several studies have identified the importance of family structure on offending. Events such as separation, divorce and the creation of step-families can have a serious effect on young people’s offending behaviour as they change the relationship between parents and children and also the degree of parental supervision that children receive (Wadsworth, 1979; Wells and Rankin, 1991).”
§ “Attachment to family can provide protection against deviant behaviour and earlier studies have shown a strong link between offending and having a poor relationship with parents (Boswell, 1995; Graham and Bowling, 1995).”
o In Education: A Joseph Rowntree Foundation report found that children of separated parents perform less well in school and gain fewer educational qualifications, experience behavioural problems and leave school and home when young. (Rodgers, B. and Pryor, J. (1998), Divorce and Separation: The Outcomes for Children, York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation).
o Delegates at the annual conference of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers in 2008 said chaotic home lives and poverty made children unable to learn. (Eason, G. (2008), “Toxic cycle of family breakdown”, BBC News, 18 Mar, (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/ education/7303003.stm), accessed on 1 Feb 2011).
o In Health: Divorced men and women are about 35% more likely to consult their GPs than those who are married, (McAllister, F. (ed.) (1995), Marital Breakdown and the Health of the Nation, 2nd ed., London: One Plus One). Children of divorced parents are 50% more likely to be admitted to hospital (Butler, N. and Golding, J. (eds.) (1986),From Birth to Five: A Study of the Health and Behaviour of Britain’s Five Year Olds, Oxford: Pergamon Press), or to suffer accidental injury or poisoning than children whose parents are not divorced. (Dawson, D.A. (1991), “Family structure and children’s health and well being: Data from the 1988 National Health Interview Survey on Child Health”, Journal of Marriage and the Family, 53(3): 573-84).
o Statistically, marriage continues to deliver better outcomes than cohabitation and lone parenting:
§ Adults who live together are more similar to singles than to married couples in terms of physical health (Pienta, A.M. et al., ‘Health Consequences of Marriage for the Retirement Years’, Journal of Family Issues 21(5), 2000, pp. 559-586), and emotional well-being and mental health (Brown, S.L., ‘The Effect of Union Type on Psychological Well-Being: Depression Among Cohabitors versus Marrieds’, Journal of Health and Social Behavior 41, 2000, pp. 241-255; Horwitz, A.V. and Raskin, H., ‘The Relationship of Cohabitation and Mental Health: A Study of a Young Adult Cohort’, Journal of Marriage and the Family 60(2), 1998, pp. 504-14; Stack, S. and Eshleman, J.R., ‘Marital Status and Happiness: A 17-Nation Study,’ Journal of Marriage and the Family 60, 1998, pp. 527-536; Mastekaasa, A., ‘The Subjective Well-Being of the Previously Married: The Importance ofUnmarried Cohabitation and Time Since Widowhood or Divorce’, Social Forces 73, 1994, pp. 665-692) as well as in assets and earnings. (Hao, L., ‘Family Structure, Private Transfers, and the Economic Well-Being of Families with Children’, Social Forces 75, 1996, pp. 269-292; Daniel, K., ‘The Marriage Premium,’ in Tommasi, M. and Ieullli, K. (eds.), The New Economics of Human Behavior, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995, pp. 113-25).
§ Children with cohabiting parents have outcomes more similar to children living with lone (or remarried) parents than to children from intact marriages. (Jeynes, W.H., ‘The Effects of Several of the Most Common Family Structures on the Academic Achievement of Eighth Graders’, Marriage and Family Review 30(1/2), 2000, pp. 73-97; Morrison, D.R. and Ritualo, A., ‘Routes to Children’s Economic Recovery After Divorce: Are Cohabitation and Remarriage Equivalent?’, American Sociological Review 65, 2000, pp. 560-580; Manning, W.D. and Lichter, D.T., ‘Parental Cohabitation and Children’s Economic Well-Being’, Journal of Marriage and the Family 58, 1996, pp. 998-1010).
o Family stability is reducing
§ Marriage remains the most stable relationship, and the marriage rate is reducing.
- In 2008, 708,000 babies were born in England and Wales. 55% in marriage, 30% cohabiting, 15% couples at different addresses / mothers alone. The proportion of children being born outside of marriage rose from under 5% in the 1950s to 45% in the most recent statistics.
- There were 230,000 marriages last year, the lowest since 1895 (ONS
- Cohabitation is rising, but on the latest British Household Panel Survey Evidence, a baby born to cohabiting parents is over ten times more likely to see its parents separate than one born to married parents (this is up from twice as likely 15 years ago) (Jubilee Centre: Cohabitation in the 21st Century).
- According to a study of longitudinal data by Harry Benson of the Bristol Community Family Trust, 48% of children born today will not still be living with both birth parents at 1
Relationships Foundation has this week published the Cost of Family Failure Report. This found that the total cost of family breakdown to the UK was £41.74 billion in 2010-11. This is £1,364 for every taxpayer. The total cost has risen by £70million since last year. The index looks at the cost of family breakdown to five key areas of public policy: Tax and Benefits, Housing, Health and Social Care, Civil & Criminal Justice and Education & Young People not in education, employment or training.
www.relationshipsfoundation.org/counting-the-cost-of-family-failure-42bn
Marriage Week UK runs from the 7th to the 14th February