Fears that change to ONS figures seeks to sideline marriage
The Office of National Statistics (ONS) has changed the frequency with which figures are published concerning children born outside of wedlock.
Critics say that the changes are part of continued efforts to marginalise marriage as an institution.
Figures for children born to unmarried mothers and those born to parents in ‘legal partnerships’ will now be released on an annual, as opposed to quarterly, basis.
An ONS spokesperson said that the adjustments were due to spending cuts.
There are fears that changing the publication of data in this way will make it harder to demonstrate the benefits of marriage for children.
Patricia Morgan, of the think-tank Civitas, said:
“This is a way of crossing marriage out of the public consciousness.
“It has been done one step at a time. The evidence that marriage is better for families and children is overwhelming, but if you don’t have the evidence you can no longer prove it.
“This Government seems to be no better than the last one in its attitude to marriage.”
The previous government instituted a policy in 2003, which meant that all mentions of marriage in public documents had to be taken out.
The Daily Mail commented that current Government officials appear to be continuing with the policy.
David Cameron had promised to re-introduce a tax break for married couples before he became Prime Minister but it appears that this is no longer a priority.
Backbench Conservative MPs tabled an amendment to the Finance Bill in June in an effort to introduce the measure but their efforts did not receive the full support of the rest of the party.
The decision to stop releasing quarterly figures is the first alteration to statistics on births outside of marriage since they began in 1846.
Analyst Julie Messer had said in an ONS report in May that statistics on whether fathers are resident or not are more “meaningful” than whether a child is born to married parents.
Andrea Williams, CEO of Christian Concern, commented:
“Marriage, despite its proven benefits for children, has long been under attack in certain quarters.
“It is disappointing that the ONS saw fit to make these changes.
“This Government must break with the past and begin again to extol the benefits of marriage for the sake of children and society at large.”
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