n ai t ri B n FThea impmact ofi clhangiineg fasmily sitructures and what the public think aUtHOrs Dr Sarah Jenkins, Isabella Pereira from Ipsos MORI Natalie Evans from Policy Exchange COntents 04 intrODUCtiOn 05 sUmmarY 09 CHaPter 01 Two point four children? The shape of British families today. 21 CHaPter 02 What has been the impact of the changing family structure? 27 CHaPter 03 What do the public think about these changes to family life? 39 CHaPter 04 What can government do to help families? 47 CHaPter 05 Should government make benefits conditional? 4 intrODUCtiOn In Britain today, both the public and politicians agree that families matter. Four out of five people say that ‘my family are more important to me than my friends’,1 and families currently ride high on the policy agendas of both the Labour2 and the Conservative Parties.3 One thing that unites everyone in Britain is the need for parents to take more responsibility for their children: 64% of us strongly agree this matters.4 Yet ‘the family’, both in public opinion and as a policy area, is a source of persistent contradictions and trade-offs. Privately, families must balance the competing interests of parents, children and other dependants within the household such as elderly relatives. The traditional single male breadwinner family is declining and the growth of single-parent families and other new kinds of family present many new challenges for government policy on welfare, work-life balance and in many other areas. This report aims to be a starting point for a debate on policy, charting the changing nature of the family, and what that means for parents, children and our wider society. Drawing on the breadth of the latest new research undertaken by Ipsos MORI with Policy Exchange5, and other existing research, we explore the changing shape of families in Britain today, the impact of such changes on society, public opinion on the role of families and the role for government. We highlight the key opportunities for policymakers in light of the challenges suggested by the current demographic, social and attitudinal terrain, and what the public thinks of these options. 1 Ipsos MORI Real Trends, self-completion and online. Base: 2,019 British adults 16+, 9th May – 5th June 2008. 2 Cabinet Office/ The Strategy Unit (2008) ‘Families in Britain: An Evidence Paper’ Department for Children, Schools and Families. 3 Social Policy Justice Group (2006), ‘Fractured Families’ Centre for Social Justice. 4 Ipsos MORI Real Trends September 2008. 5 Ipsos MORI and Policy Exchange placed several questions on an omnibus of 2000 people. Fieldwork took place between 9th and 15th January 2009. A qualitative deliberative workshop was held with 15 members of the general public to debate issues in more detail. The workshop took place in February 2009. Families in Britain rePOrt 5 sUmmarY Families have changed The last 100 years have seen changes in legislation, technology, attitudes and expectations that have led to: • a massive feminisation of the workforce since the second world war; • widespread contraception leading to deferred decisions about the start of families; and • divorce, remarriage and cohabitation becoming much more acceptable. A relaxation of societal attitudes towards marriage means it is no longer seen as unusual to be involved in a ‘complicated’ family structure. Families are no longer just made up of married parents living with their children. Although seven in ten households are still headed up by married couples, this proportion has been declining for some time. Families are now a mix of cohabiting parents, stepfamilies, single parent families, those living apart together and civil partnerships, as well as the traditional nuclear family. What are the impacts of these changes? As a result of these changes, families are now less stable than in previous generations. Children often grow up with different parents - in stepfamilies, or with one parent figure missing. These children are more likely to experience poverty, poor health and wellbeing and be involved in antisocial behaviour. Families will go on evolving. As more women have careers and seek more egalitarian relationships, men and women frequently need to negotiate their roles within the family. This is likely to be heightened as the economic downturn takes its toll on employment and families have to be flexible about who is in work. What do the public think about these changes? A challenge for politicians is that new research shows us the public are divided in their views about families. • Over the last ten years, people without children have paid more tax and families raising children have received increased support. Although slightly more of the general public support this policy (43%) than not (32%), parents support this by two to one (49% versus 24% opposed). • But there is not a clear consensus among the public. Almost half (48%) of Britons think that people who choose to have children should not expect other taxpayers to help them with the costs of raising them. Contrary to current policy, public views are also divided along class and age lines with more working class and older people most opposed, and wealthier and younger people most supportive of this action. Families in Britain rePOrt 6 • But at the same time, two in five people (41%) feel that all taxpayers should contribute something to help with the costs of raising children. There is a divide in opinion based on social class with half (50%) of those in higher social class households agreeing with this statement compared to over one third (37%) in lower class households. • Similarly, half of people (50%) think that anybody with a child should get some government help towards the cost of raising it, with unsurprisingly more parents (58%) than non parents (47%) agreeing with this statement. But a significant minority believe that only poor parents should get government help towards the costs of raising their children (40%). • Child Benefit is currently paid to every family with dependant children regardless of income. Although more than two in five (43%) people agree with this, three in ten people think that Child Benefit should only be paid to lower income families (30%), and just under a quarter (23%) think that it should only be paid to families with children under the age of 16 years. the future If we accept the evidence that suggests that non-traditional families are more likely to lead to poorer outcomes, questions need to be asked about whether the government should incentivise marriage. Recent policy changes have moved away from this, with for example the removal of Married Man’s Allowance and the introduction of Working Tax Credit, but does government need to reconsider this? We know the public supports government policy incentivising marriage, despite divorce rates.6 In considering what the government can do to support families, we have considered two possible options: providing more support to parents with younger children and making financial payments to families conditional, possibly to target it better. Providing more support to parents with younger children • Almost seven in ten people (67%) believe that the same level of support should be available to parents regardless of the age of their children, and only a quarter (24%) feel that support should be increased. Although it is recognised that the cost of raising children is high, particularly when they are new born, it is felt that these costs do not necessarily go away as the child grows, but they transfer into larger payments such as increased household bills, school uniforms or university fees. 6 ICM Poll (2007) Conducted for The Telegraph. Families in Britain rePOrt 7 making payments to families conditional • Almost half of people (49%) support the idea that parents who fail to bring up their children properly should lose eligibility for family payments, with just over a quarter (27%) opposing it. Interestingly, parents are most likely to support this idea (54%). This is highly consistent with a widespread belief in British society that parents should take more responsibility for their children (64% strongly agree, only 1% strongly disagree), a feeling that the young have too much freedom and not enough discipline (84% and 72% among 15-29 year olds)7 and that the most effective way of reducing crime is better parenting, rather than tougher policing or changes to policy. • Many feel that this type of policy would have a high impact on the lower social classes who ‘would come under the searchlight’. Perhaps unsurprisingly more unemployed people strongly oppose this policy (21%) compared to people who are in work (10%). • However, despite widespread agreement that parenting is a key problem area, views on what exactly is ‘proper’ parenting and how it would be policed are very contentious. The public agree government should provide parents with the education and information they need in order to be able to raise their children in a ‘better environment’. But if parents do not want ‘support’, many feel the only enforcement that will work is financial penalty or imprisonment, which would ultimately impact on the child, something considered totally unacceptable by most. While the public accept that ‘broken’ families, in the sense of divorce, stepfamilies and single parents, are now the norm, and have much more relaxed attitudes towards the institution of marriage than previous generations, marriage continues to be widely viewed as desirable where children are concerned. Although the public want to ensure that provision is available to support families, opinion is divided on who should pay for that provision, whether provision should be targeted more strictly and whether financial support for families could be made conditional. What is clear is that the status quo is fragile. There is still strong support for the ideal of marriage across all social classes,8 especially where children are concerned. The majority agree it is right for government to encourage it, especially amongst older people. But at the same time, views on how government should intervene in the details of family life and raising children are sensitive and views on financial support are very mixed. For this reason, despite widespread use of the phrase ‘hard working families’, all political parties need to tread carefully in articulating major changes in family policy. april 2009 Dr sarah Jenkins, associate Director, ipsos mOri isabella Pereira, senior research executive, ipsos mOri natalie evans, Deputy Director, Policy exchange 7 Ipsos MORI Real Trends September 2008. 8 56% agree it is very important to them personally, only 7% feel it is not important at all. ICM Poll (2007) conducted on behalf of The Telegraph. Families in Britain rePOrt Two point four children? The shape of British families today. 10 a relaxation of societal attitudes towards marriage means it is no longer seen as unusual to be involved in a ‘complicated’ family structure. Families are no longer solely made up of married parents living with their children: nowadays, many families consist of a number of non-traditional structures such as stepfamilies, cohabiting parents, single parents, couples living apart together and civil partnerships. Changes in legislation, women’s entry into the labour market and the development of science and technology have allowed parents greater ability to plan their future and have flexibility in their working patterns. introduction The structure of the British family has shifted significantly over the last 50 years, and this looks set to continue. This chapter outlines the most significant changes of the past decades and the key reasons for them. These changes have resulted in the decline of marriage and the rise of cohabitation, new forms of family composition, and the delay of parenthood. the decline of marriage and the rise of cohabitation Although seven out of ten households are still headed by married couples this percentage has been declining for some time.9 Between 1996 and 2006 the number of married couple families fell by over 4%, while the number of cohabiting couple families increased by 2.3 million, representing 14% of all families. It is estimated that no more than seven out of ten men and women now in their mid-30s will marry compared to nine out of ten now in their mid-60s.10 By 2031, projections suggest that these trends will continue and there will be around 3.8 million cohabiting couples, as well as further increases in the number of single parents.11 Pre-marital cohabitation has dramatically increased and become the norm. In 1960, just 2% of couples were cohabiting before they married, compared to three quarters in 1998.12 Moreover, many people now marry later, often living with a partner, as a ‘trial marriage’ before making a formal commitment.13 Chart 1.1 opposite indicates the projected increased trend in cohabitation. 9 Office of National Statistics (2007) ‘Focus on Families’, p3. 10 Schoen, R. and Canudas-Romo, V. (2005) ‘Timing effects on first marriage: Twentieth-century experience in England and Wales and the USA’ in Population Studies, Vol. 59, p135-146. 11 Cabinet Office/ The Strategy Unit (2008) ‘Families in Britain: An Evidence Paper’ Department for Children, Schools and Families, p78. 12 Cabinet Office/ The Strategy Unit, (2008) ‘Families in Britain: An Evidence Paper’ Department for Children, Schools and Families, p26. 13 Cabinet Office/ The Strategy Unit, (2008) ‘Families in Britain: An Evidence Paper’ Department for Children, Schools and Families, p25. Families in Britain rePOrt