PRESS RELEASE
11th August 2011

Today, as Parliament reconvenes to discuss the riots, Christian charity CARE has called on the Prime Minister to re-engage with the Broken Society agenda, with its emphasis on tackling family breakdown and fatherlessness, which he promoted vigorously when in Opposition.

Dan Boucher, CARE’s Director of Parliamentary Affairs, said, ‘The reasons for the riots are complex. It is very unlikely that there is any one single explanation. A key element in the mix, however, is undoubtedly the place of the family and the role of fathers in particular in Britain in 2011.’

‘When in Opposition, David Cameron spoke at great length about the Broken Society and about how a Conservative government would ‘fix broken Britain.’ He was very clear that one of the key drivers of the Broken Britain phenomenon was family breakdown and fatherlessness and interestingly polling demonstrates that this resonated far more effectively with the public than his subsequent focus on the Big Society ever has.’

Boucher continued, ‘Today we are confronted with Broken Britain and family breakdown as never before. One cannot watch the rioters without asking the question, was that young man or woman brought up in a house with a present father? And then of course we are confronted with the fact that some of those on the streets have actually been children, hence the repeated calls from the police for parents to keep their children with them, again prompting questions about what kind of family life children ‘enjoy’ today. The sad fact is that without a functional family, children and young people will be more vulnerable to the appeal of the surrogate family of the gang, which is well able to provide an alternative, and deeply destructive, sense of identity, belonging and purpose.’

Nola Leach, CARE’s Head of Public Policy and CEO said, ‘The sadness is that the Prime Minister has made no references to fixing ‘Broken Britain’ since coming into Downing Street, as if the mere act of changing Prime Ministers was all that was needed to address the problem. There is so much that could be done.’

‘In relation to fiscal policy, for example, the proposed Universal Benefit changes will help erode the couple penalty but we are still waiting for recognition of marriage in the tax system. The figures, as the Prime Minister knows, are very striking, especially in the context of the riots. A child born to cohabiting parents has a nearly one in two chance of living in a one parent home by the time they reach their fifth birthday, whilst a child born to married parents has only a one in twelve chance of finding themselves in this situation.’

Leach concluded, ‘The Prime Minister must now take action and make recognising marriage in the tax system and investing much more in the single biggest determinant of the quality of parenting, the relationship between the parents, via marriage support, his number one priority for the coming year.’