Most Britons feel that the decline of marriage is a key cause of social breakdown, according to a new survey.
In a poll of over 1,700 adults commissioned by the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), 55 per cent say at least one of their local communities is plagued by broken families, crime and poor schools.
60 per cent say that over the last few decades, marriage has become less important to society and resulting in a damaging effect on the country.
But 89 per cent believe better parenting and stronger families are the key to mending the broken society.
The CSJ is preparing to launch Breakthrough Britain II, a new forensic examination of the social fabric of the nation. It will report back ahead of the next general election.
The new study, which will run until 2014, will explore the fundamental causes of poverty and social breakdown. The CSJ has identified these as welfare dependency, family breakdown, educational failure, drug and alcohol addiction and serious personal debt.
“The original Breakthrough Britain report was a turning point in our understanding of the causes of deprivation. We travelled the length and breadth of the UK, took evidence from over 2,000 organisations in 3,000 hours of public hearings and visited other countries to ensure this study was the most comprehensive ever done,” said Christian Guy, Managing Director of the CSJ.
He added: “It challenged the tired arguments that poverty was about income alone and provided a host of robust solutions to improve communities and allow people to fulfil their potential.”
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