What a shock! Children who have married parents thrive

MARRIAGE plays a key role in determining children’s chances of success in life, according to a major government report.

Researchers found that children do worse if they are brought up by a lone parent or by parents who are not married.

The report presents powerful fresh evidence that a couple who commit to each other with a wedding are much more likely to have a successful family.

Produced by academics from Sussex University for the Department of Work and Pensions, the analysis looked at responses from a survey of 40,000 homes. It said: ‘Child outcomes tend to be worse on average in lone-parent and non-married families.’ The report

‘Stop punishing it in the tax system’

was made available to ministers two weeks ago. But despite this, Work and Pensions Secretary Stephen Crabb chose to cut planned references to the importance of marriage from his first major speech in the post.

Now, amid concerns that marriage is slipping off the Whitehall agenda, the report has provoked fresh demands for greater help for married couples in the tax and benefit system. Laura Perrins, of the Conservative Woman website, said: ‘If this Government cared about children it should care about marriage and stop punishing it in the tax system.’

A DWP spokesman said: ‘We commissioned this research to help us understand what works to improve children’s life chances.’