A stable future?

It has been recently reported that by 2047 families headed by married couples will be in the minority, at just 49.5%, if the current rate of decline in marriages continues. The think tank calls for additional government focus and support to ensure family stability, the breakdown of which costs society an estimated £44billon per year.

The proportion of families headed by a married couple has declined by 5% in the last 10 years and cohabitation has increased by some 3%. I have posted earlier about the marriage foundation, which extols marriage as the gold standard. There certainly are studies to support that cohabiting relationships are less stable than married ones.

And yet, I wonder how much impact any government schemes or proposals would really have in turning the tables and encouraging people to marry. There is talk of need for a Government department for families to tackle family breakdown and introduction of a transferable tax allowance for married couples to promote marriage.

Financial incentives to marriage are not, in my opinion, likely to make a difference. I cannot think that the vast majority of people marry for tax or any other financial benefit that they might receive from the state and if they do, how stable is their relationship likely to be in the future?  Are those people then to be discouraged from separation even in the most distressing of circumstances because to do so would be financially disadvantageous? Is that how we see our future?

The CSJ comments that more must be done to strengthen families in the poorest communities to ensure social recovery and economic growth – will financial incentives such as transferable tax allowances make marriage more appealing in these communities? How does this sit with cuts to state funded benefits impacting on many families up and down the country and increasing the pressure on them?

If stability of marriage, or any other relationship, is the goal then I do think there needs to be more done on a deeper level – to encourage people to work through problems or communicate more effectively – how or if the government is placed to do that is questionable.

The real difficulty may be that society as a whole has changed and that future generations view their lives very differently. Relationships now take on many forms and I wonder whether younger generations will hold marriage to be the “gold standard” whatever incentives or support there is?

The fact is that, unless and until sufficient is done and public opinion is swayed, cohabitation will continue to increase, leaving many people in precarious positions on separation and without any real understanding of their legal rights.

Following the logic of the CSJ, perhaps education on cohabitation and its various potential legal/financial pitfalls might persuade more into marriage instead?!