A culture of sexual license and promiscuity in the UK is costing the taxpayer approximately £100 billion per year, according to findings by the Jubilee Centre.
In a paper entitled “Free sex: Who pays? Moral hazard and sexual ethics”, it’s argued that sex is widely seen as an activity which only affects the couple involved.
However, the report found that sexual freedom has significant costs which are “imposed on society as a whole”, representing “a moral hazard which threatens both our economy and our society.”
The paper warns of a culture which “implicitly views sexual freedom as a greater good than stability of relationship”, causing rising trends in abortion, teenage pregnancies and STI rates, all of which cost the taxpayer large sums of money.
“Our culture’s sexual freedom comes with massive costs attached, accounting for a significant proportion of public spending”, the report claims.
“These costs are met by society collectively rather than by the individuals most directly involved in causing them.”
Statistics
The paper, which can be found here, makes the following key observations:
- Promiscuity has a direct financial cost as STIs are estimated to cost the NHS more than £1 billion per year. Diagnoses of Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) in England rose 74% cent between 1998 and 2009.
- Teenage pregnancies cost the NHS £63 million per year.
- The abortion rate continues to rise. The total number of abortions in England and Wales rose by 8% between 2000 and 2010.96% of abortions are paid for by the NHS, at a cost of £118 million per year.
Family breakdown
Family breakdown, including divorce and separation, directly costs the taxpayer an average of £42 billion per year, most of which comes from the cost of tax credits, lone parent benefits, housing benefits and the health, crime and educational impact of relationship breakdown.
This sum, nearly £1,400 per year for every taxpayer, is equivalent to 6% of all public spending for 2011.
Comment
Peter Saunders, chief executive of the Christian Medical Fellowship, commented: “The Christian sexual ethic of faithfulness and stability has not only spiritual justification but offers a pragmatic answer to a failing culture that generally views Christian standards as hopelessly out of date.”
Andrea Minichiello Williams, CEO of Christian Concern, said: “As the UK has chosen secular humanism, including widespread sexual license, over Christian faith and morality, society has suffered greatly in a variety of ways. It is time for public policy to take into account the high cost of the so-called sexual revolution.”
Source
Jubilee Centre: ‘Free sex: Who pays? Moral hazard and sexual ethics’
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