A new report has predicted that by 2020, half of Britain’s 16 year olds will come from single parent families.
The “Breakthrough Britain 2015” study found that even today, just 57 per cent of teenage boys were currently living with their father.
The report also added to the common assumption that children whose parents had separated were significantly more likely to fail at school, have low self esteem, struggle with peer relationships and have behavioural difficulties, anxiety or depression, the Daily Telegraph reported this week.
“For too long family breakdown in this country has gone unchallenged – despite the devastating impact it has on adults, children and communities,” said Christian Guy, director of the Centre for Social Justice, the think-tank that carried out the study.
Dr Samantha Callan, one of the report’s co-authors, said the “social norm” of having children outside marriage needed to change in order to reverse the growing number of families without fathers. “There’s a prevailing view in society that when things don’t go well in a relationship, it means the end is near,” she said. “But all relationships come under pressure; you need to have made a commitment like marriage so you know you’re not going to bail.”
The Church has many resources for married couples going through hardships. The USCCB has a website dedicated to marriage here: http://www.foryourmarriage.org/
