There can be no denying that marriage is good for our children. Couples who marry tend to stay together for longer and all evidence shows that children fare better on their journey to adulthood when brought up in a stable home with a mother and a father.
This does not mean I don't believe single parents do not do a good job. Far from it. I respect those single parents who put so much effort into raising children, often in very difficult circumstances.
But the fact remains that children brought up by a lone parent are 70% more likely to develop psychological illness, more likely to under-achieve at school, become involved in crime and become lone parents themselves as adults. Absent fathers are unable to provide the role model which teenage boys require.
Iain Duncan Smith's Social Justice Group has done serious work to point out the benefits to society which marriage can have as an influence for stability.
While government should not dictate how people should live their lives, it seems right for this issue to be discussed by politicians and policies established to support and encourage stable relationships, yes including marriage. Society as a whole will benefit.
The Government seems split over marriage. Ministerial claims to support marriage ring hollow when government funding to the marriage guidance organisation Relate has been cut by 29% this year. Another sad example of more spin than substance.
