Family First

The fertility rate in England and Wales fell to 1.44 children per woman in 2023, the lowest on record, according to the Office for National Statistics. Politicians respond with the urgency usually reserved for a fault in the Commons heating.

Families are the institution on which every other institution rests. Yet the tax system treats a one-earner household with children more harshly than many of our neighbours do, and childcare costs remain among the highest in the developed world.

We propose genuine tax recognition for families, including transferable allowances between married or cohabiting parents, so that the state stops penalising the choice to have one parent at home.

Divorce law needs reform too. Prenuptial agreements in England and Wales are persuasive but not automatically binding. Properly made agreements should be enforceable, and courts should apply the same standards to both parties regardless of sex.

The care system deserves far more attention than it gets.