Headache of unmarried parents having kids grows by year

MORE children in the UK will be born out of wedlock than within marriage in 10 years’ time, according to a forecast.

The prediction by the Marriage Foundation comes as the number of children born to married couples has continued to fall to an all-time low of 53% in 2012.

The figure has dropped from 88% of births in 1980.

In 1970, fewer than one in 10 children were born outside marriage – and in the 1950s just one in 20. Since 1980 the number of family breakdowns has surged by 44%.

Now foundation research director Harry Benson believes it is only a matter of time before more than half of births will be out of wedlock.

He said: “The trend of births outside of marriage has been slowing down but it will happen within 10 years.

“I don’t think it will happen within the next two years but it’s likely to happen at some point in the future. But I can’t say exactly when.

“The most interesting marriage statistic that we’re waiting for is the overall number of new marriages.

“In 2012, which was the year after the royal wedding, there was a 5% jump in mar- riages in the first half of the year. It’s likely that it will have dipped back down in 2013.”

The report highlights the fact that despite mothers being increasingly mature when they have children, and tending to be better educated with higher incomes, instances of family breakdowns have persistently increased. “The only social trend that can plausibly explain this collapse in stabil- ity is the move away from marriage,” Benson said.

“Our previous research has shown that couples who were not married at the time of the child’s birth are more than twice as likely to split up in the following 15 years, even if they married at a later stage.”

Benson’s forecast will no doubt reignite the debate about how the British government could incentivise mar- riage through the tax system.

It is thought that the proportion of new births to unwed mothers has already surpassed the halfway mark, but that this is hidden by the number of babies born to non-British citizens who are far more likely to be married.

Nearly all births to Pakistani mothers and more than 80% to Indian and other New Commonwealth parents are within legal marriages. Conservative MPs and social commentators have warned that the decline of marriage is likely to lead to more family breakdowns and damage children’s prospects.

Former children’s minister Tim Loughton has previously called on the government to introduce tax breaks for married couples to help stop the decline. – The Telegraph