Feb 27 2007
The row over families
It is typical of the peurile level of so much British political debate, that David Cameron is accused of denigrating single parents because he has said he wishes to make it easier financially for two parents to be together.
Most young children want to know both their mother and their father. They are likely to have a relationship with both, whether the parents live together or not. Many single mothers have gone on record saying their children need good male role models, as well as good relationships with their Mums.
David Cameron is making a modest positive proposal - to make it a bit easier and more worthwhile for families to stay together. I have never heard him running down single mothers. The one does not follow from the other.
A more intelligent response to his comments would be to ask How much difference can a tax break really make? How big would it have to be? What about families where the father would be a very unsuitable role model? At what point does the state have to step in, if the home is disrupted by violence and drugs?
Politicians also have to take into account the growing unhappiness
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John Redwood has been the Member of Parliament for Wokingham since 1987. First attending Kent College, Canterbury, he graduated from Magdalen College...
I think we should also question the judicial assumption that in a break up disputed custody will almost always go to the mother. Statistics suggest that it is not single parenting but the lack of a father figure which, at least for buys, is the the most important factor leading to future criminal behaviour. Young boys are not born civilised & very difficult for a lone mother to overawe.
Since most divorces are started by the wives such lack of automatic custody would be influential.
It would be tough to do this but is in the interests of the boys as much as society & there does seem to be a clear parallel between rising divorce & rising crime.
see http://www.cato.org/testimony/ct-wc67.html
I am a single mother as a result of divorce. My children’s father unfortunately proved not to be a good role model but I feel well able and qualified to provide excellent care for them. After five years, all three of them are happy, helpful, caring and excelling at school. My father was also raised by a lone mother and he is a professor and a brilliant father and grandfather. It is not about money but about being well-balanced and educated people. Do any of these politicians seriously believe that by offering financial incentives to married couples women will stay with violent, abusive partners and incompetent parents? It is time to put the onus on men to behave responsibly and to be good fathers who are worthy of that position rather than punishing women and children who they have let down. I don’t have much money but I am in no hurry to find another husband, thank you very much.