Now we know the makeup of British families, can we afford to wait any longer to ‘meet their needs’?

Earlier this month the government published the lengthy, very comprehensive, and long-awaited Independent Family Review report which contains ‘ground-breaking research’ that Dame Rachel de Souza, the England’s Children’s Commissioner, assures us will provide us with a deep understanding what modern families look like.

While I assumed that the data would simply serve to confirm what many of us have known for years – namely, that the number of ‘families’ in the country cannot be quickly calculated using the latest ONS statistics on divorce and marriage – I won’t deny I was curious about what further insight it would provide.

I must say, I was pleasantly surprised.

Not so much by the data itself, which shows that as of 2021, there are 8.2 million families with children in England, 63% of which are married couples with children, 14% of which are cohabiting and 23% of which are headed by a lone parent, but more so by the emphasis that the report places on the importance of family relationships. 

Read the full article here.