Marriage and family life continue to suffer the inroads of contemporary society. From England came the recent news that the number of women giving birth outside of marriage rose by 22% in the last 5 years.<\/p>\n
According to a June 29 report published by the Daily Mail newspaper, in 2006 a total of 327,000 children were born out of wedlock, 59,000 more than in 2001. In terms of a proportion of overall births, in 2006 no less than 43.7% of babies had unmarried mothers.<\/p>\n
The Daily Mail quoted Patricia Morgan, author of a number of studies on the family, who accused the British tax system favoring single parenthood. “Two out of three of the babies outside marriage will have been born to couples with one eye on the benefit authorities,” she told the newspaper.<\/p>\n
Her remarks were confirmed by a former Labour Party minister for welfare reform, Frank Field. He argued that the tax and benefits system “brutally discriminate,” against two-parent families, reported the Times newspaper, June 14.<\/p>\n