CARE’s new report – the taxation of families – international comparisons 2012 – was the subject of a briefing held in Parliament today hosted by the Lord Bishop of Chester, the Rt Rev Dr Peter Forster.

Dr Dan Boucher, CARE’s Director of Parliamentary Affairs spoke alongside the Bishop of Chester, echoing his call for the Government to be bold and introduce a more generous transferable allowance to help families with one earning parent. We are delighted that parliamentarians from across the parties, academics and a range of campaigners were in attendance in a packed Committee Room.

CARE’s report has also received wide press coverage. The Independent said that the Government is now “under attack” for being “anti-family” as a result of the findings.

The Sunday Telegraph quoted Bishop Peter who, in his foreword to the report, noted:

“The tax burden on one-earner married families is still significantly above the OECD average and rising. We cannot promote such clear fiscal individualism and not expect to reap the consequences,” he said. “Far from delivering policy solutions to fix ‘broken Britain’ it would seem that the government, at least in 2012, was more interested in exacerbating our social brokenness.”

Co-author of the report, David Binder, said in Conservative Home that increasing the generosity of the transferable allowance “would make a significant tangible difference to one-earner couple families with children.”

The Daily Mail also ran a piece on the report, commenting: “According to the analysis by tax experts at the charity CARE, a family here living on a single salary of £27,000 can keep only 27p of every pound that they earn above that.”

The 2010 Conservative manifesto committed to making Britain the most family-friendly country in Europe and yet the taxation of families – international comparisons 2012 (the latest year for which comparative data is available) shows that in 2012 the UK income tax system failed to show regard for family responsibility.

The report shows that the tax burden on one-earner married families is still significantly above the OECD average and rising. Between last year’s report – which looked at 2011 – and this year’s – which look’s at 2012 – the burden rose from being 42% greater than the OECD average to being 45% greater.

We will continue to urge the Government to do everything possible to support and strengthen families and marriage.

The report Taxation of Families – International Comparisons 2012 can be found here.