“I want every decision we take to be judged on whether it makes our country more or less family-friendly – and this new focus on well-being will be part of achieving that.” David Cameron, 2011
“And then of course there’s the economic cost of relationship breakdown. While the emotional and social costs cannot be fully measured, estimates suggest relationship breakdown costs our economy as much as £44 billion every year.” David Cameron
Between 2009 and 2016 we ran a programme of work to influence family policy in the UK. David Cameron as both Leader of the Opposition and Prime Minister had made strong statements about the importance of families. We argued that any government seeking to promote wellbeing and satisfy public demands for social and economic progress while facing acute fiscal pressures would only succeed with a clear, intentional and integrated family policy. This should recognise and support the contribution of families to many policy goals and consider the costs of the breakdown of family relationships.
We begin our days in families, and they care for us in old age. Our families touch every aspect of our development as human beings, and of our lives at work, at home, and in society. As such they offer the greatest potential for social change, for wealth, and wellbeing. Sideline family policy and you court systemic failure.
The main strands of our work were:
The case for family policy
Our Thriving Lives report made the case for wellbeing as a national goal, while our Unsocial Hours: Unsocial Families? Working Time and Family Wellbeing report examined the impact of one are of policy. In A Relationships State of the Nation we argued that the debate about new measure of national progress should include recognising relationships as integral aspect of true national wealth.
Building on this we set out in The Penumbra Effect how families influence policy outcomes in many areas are in turn influenced by them. We outlined a simple strategy for policy: to focus on Motivation (incentivising behaviour), Opportunity (making it easier to do) and Support (strengthening capacity and resilience). We argued that all government departments should therefore have an interest in family policy.
National goals such as improved education, better social care and public health, less welfare dependency, reduced crime, higher levels of well-being greater life chances for children all require a strong positive contribution from families. We therefore argued that every government department should be required to state the ways in which they rely on families to achieve their goals (for example the contribution of families to educational attainment of pupils) and the implications of this contribution being compromised. Equally the government should set out a clear strategy for supporting families. This ‘deal’ should be at the heart of the understanding of rights and responsibilities between the government and the general public. It needs to be clearly stated and easily understood. It needs to be written into departmental plans. Above all, it needs political leaders who will do more than pay lip service to family policy.
In order to hold government to account on airy ambitions to be ‘the most family friendly country in Europe’ we developed the Family Pressure Gauge comparing European nations to each other. Financial and work pressures, combine with poor maternity and paternity provision, and poor living environments put British families among the most pressured in Europe.
A triple test on policy: economic, environmental and social
A notable achievement was the success in lobbying with others for the introduction of a Family Test on policy. The issue is not whether policy should seek to influence family relationships, but whether that inevitable influence is intentional and to what end. The timeline below illustrates the patience, research and partnerships required to achieve change.
2009: The Triple Test: integrating economic, environmental and social policy launches our family project
2010: As part of an agenda for the coalition government we published three reports on how to ‘family proof’ policy:
Progressive Families, Progressive Britain: Why Britain Needs Family Proofing of Policy
Family Proofing Policy: A Review of International Experience of Family Impact Assessment
Towards a Conceptual Framework for Family Proofing Policy
2011: Prime Minister first announces plans to introduce family test on policy. Government wellbeing strategy recommits to a family test.
“From here on, I want a family test applied to all domestic policy. If it hurts families, if it undermines commitment, if it tramples over the values that keep people together, or stops families from being together, then we shouldn’t do it.” (David Cameron)
2012: Government social justice strategy incorporates some family indicators
2014: Prime Minister’s speech announces family test. RF part of Department for Work and Pensions to develop the test. Guidance issued to departments.
2015: RF with other organisations supports Private Members Bill to put the Family Test on a statutory footing. Continuing lobbying and advice to support implementation.
2016: Implementing the Family Test: A review of progress one year on published by RF, Relate and Family and Childcare Trust. An independent Family Test of government proposals to reregulate Sunday trading commissioned from Social Market Foundation.
Counting the cost of family breakdown
One of our major achievements was getting a rough figure for the cost of family breakdown widely recognised and quoted in the press and by policymakers.
We first set out a methodology and figure (£37 billion) in a 2008 pamphlet that could be read from either the front or the back: When Relationships Go Right/When Relationships Go Wrong. We produced annual updates which showed a steadily rising cost. The 2011 Counting the Cost of Family Failure report updated the methodology and suggested an annual cost of £42 billion. Our final 2016 edition showed the cost to be £48 billion.