The Archbishop of York Delivers The Sir George Williams Memorial Lecture for 2010

Family breakdowns have a huge impact on children.

A report by the Centre for Social Justice entitled ‘Every Family Matters’ called upon Parliament and parties across the political spectrum to recognise that healthy marriages build healthy families, and healthy families build a healthy society.

There is a measurable financial cost to family breakdown, but there is a greater cost in the impact on young people which is incalculable.

Many who would argue that individual lifestyle choice must be taken into account in any discussion of marriage. But my own view is that the exclusive emphasis on individual choice ignores the cost of that choice to society as a whole.

There are of course inhibiting factors in getting married, whether it be the cost of a wedding or the fear of commitment. But the danger is that Society at large loses out.

There are other basic commitments needed for a healthy society. Honesty is one. Who is setting an example?

A recent study suggests that among adults there is no longer a universal standard of what honesty means, and the academic researchers concluded that attitudes to honesty are so variable that the legal standard needs to be revised.

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