Unmarried parents ‘lower a child’s status’

UNMARRIED middle-class parents are more likely to see their children drop in social status, a study suggests.

Figures show that professional parents who do not marry are more likely to have a child in receipt of state benefits at some point, with a 53 per cent chance, as against 37 per cent for those whose parents had married.

The report, by the Marriage Foundation, a pressure group, stated: “The protection of social class only appears to apply to those whose parents were married at the time of their birth.

“If their parents were not married, ‘rich kids’ are nearly as likely to end up on benefits as ‘poor kids’.” Sir Paul Coleridge, founder of the organisation, said: “The natural assumption is the children of the better off will be protected from needing state benefits. But this research shows this is simply not the whole story.”

The figures were based on analysis of 20,000 adults.