Gingerbread responds to Centre for Social Justice Family Policy Paper

18 January 2010

Single parent charity Gingerbread today questioned the figures used in the Centre for Social Justice Family Policy Green Paper, and called for family policy to be based on the best available research.

Commenting on the paper, Fiona Weir, Chief Executive of Gingerbread said:

“The Centre for Social Justice is using You Gov polling data from 2006 to argue that single parenthood leads to poor outcomes for children. But two major research studies, one by the OECD, and one by the Department for Children Schools and Families, have concluded that the impact of single parenthood itself – as opposed to factors such as conflict and poverty – is negligible. ”

 “The Centre for Social Justice is calling for a married couples tax allowance, which they say would ‘encourage’ rather than ‘incentivise’ marriage. Research by the Institute for Fiscal Studies shows that such a policy would lift less than 10,000 children out of poverty. Investing the same money in the Child Tax Credit would help 130,000 children.”

 “We are keen to debate the best way to help all families, and ensure that all children can thrive. But this debate needs to be conducted on the basis of the best evidence available and with the aim of treating all families fairly.”