On United Nations International Day of Happiness, Mr Cameron’s continued penalising of one-earner families is no laughing matter.

Yesterday’s announcement of a childcare tax break was welcomed by some but, scrape just millimetres beneath the surface and all is not as Ministers would have you believe. In fact, this is the latest move from a Coalition Government which seems determined – by omission if not through conscious decision – to ostracise stay-at home parents.

We know that introducing transferable allowances for married couples would make our tax system fairer. Unlike other policies implemented by this Coalition Government, transferable allowances will disproportionately benefit many of those families who are less well-off.

We know that it is a policy which is popular amongst backbench Conservatives – no small thing at a time when support for Mr Cameron from his backbenches is hard to come by.

We know that developmental outcomes for children are best in the context of a married relationship, that marriage is best for spouses and for wider society. Some children brought up in other family types may do equally well, just as some children brought up by married parents may not do so well. The point is that marriage is the gold standard and that Mr Cameron is making it more difficult for parents who would like to stay at home to care for their children to do so. Why are we making it easier for parents to be able to work and pay for childcare, rather than making it more feasible for parents to care for their own children at home?

Why is that Mr Cameron and Mr Osborne are so disinclined to introduce transferable allowances for married couples? Is it a by-product of Coalition politicking or should we be more forgiving of a Chancellor attempting to prioritise and shuffle sparse resources across and within competing departments? Can we in fact trust that a promise made in the Conservative Manifesto and reiterated in the Coalition Agreement will be fulfilled?

Whatever the reason for Mr Cameron’s inaction, stay-at-home parents work incredibly hard in a fiscal context which discourages them from doing so. Being a stay-at-home parent is aspirational in itself – an investment in the next generation, as was commented on Twitter yesterday.

Sadly, in its desire to be all things to all people the Government seems to have forgotten this.

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