Fiona Bruce (Congleton) (Con): I pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Peterborough (Mr Jackson) not only for delivering an excellent speech, but for his dogged pursuance of the issue during this Parliament.
Supporting marriage in the tax system, certainly where children are involved, is a social justice issue. It is about supporting children to flourish, and helping them to get the best start in life and fulfil their potential. The Government support children, especially disadvantaged children, in many ways—providing nursery places, the pupil premium, school dinners and university funding—so why do they not support children in one of the best ways we can, by supporting a stable, secure environment in which they can grow up? We focus so much on ensuring that children have the best education within the school day, but a crucial factor in enabling them to take advantage of that education is if, at the end of the school day, they can go home not to a chaotic environment but to a stable and secure one, not least so as to do their home work, rest and prepare for the next school day.
My hon. Friend cited some excellent statistics from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and the Centre for Social Justice on the better development outcomes of children from stable families. I do not want to repeat those, but I will mention others. The Centre for Social Justice, to which I pay tribute for its work, has informed me that children in families with transitional relationships are eight times more likely to be on a child protection register, and 50 times more likely to die of a deliberate injury in the home. There is no doubt that children living in families with transitional—indeed, sometimes chaotic relationships—suffer acutely; the converse is also true.
As the Joseph Rowntree Foundation has said, the effects of children suffering behavioural problems spill out to the rest of society. Relationship breakdown for children means that they suffer grief—often far into adulthood—and so fail to fulfil their aspirations. Therefore, not only for children during childhood but for wider society, we should support marriage in the tax system, which is about sending out a message that it is good for children, but it is also good for society, and about saying that we value the commitment, care and self-sacrifice of parents. Children are a blessing, but they are also a responsibility—they involve hard work—and many parents, when one is a non-earner, give up their earning capacity to help bring up the next generation in a positive way, from which we will all benefit as the years go by.
Marriage is a more secure environment, which is why we should support those who are married and not only those who cohabit. The Department for Work and Pensions recently announced that only 55% of children still live with both parents by the age of 15, but 97% of those families are headed by married couples. Another advantage is that a married couple’s tax allowance would effectively target the poorest with that benefit. The Institute for Fiscal Studies has said that such an allowance would have a disproportionately positive effect on those in the lower half of the income distribution, because 70% of the benefit would go to them. We all support an increase in the personal allowance. I would like that to be increased further, but an increase to £10,000 will benefit even those in the highest tax brackets. A married tax allowance is simply more targeted and therefore more effective for benefiting children in poorest and least advantaged homes.
I therefore join my hon. Friend in calling for the Chancellor to bring in, as early as possible, a transferrable tax allowance for married couples: yes, because it was in our manifesto; yes, because it was a coalition agreement commitment; yes, because it will recognise marriage in the tax system and, in so doing, bring us more closely into line with other OECD countries; yes, because it will rebalance the tax burden on married couples compared with single people; yes, because it will send out a signal from Government that they value marriage, and recognise and appreciate the contribution that married couples make to wider society—with elderly relatives or voluntary work—as so many non-earner married people do; yes, because the greatest benefit will accrue to the least well-off; yes, because it is worth making such an investment that will reap its benefits and rewards for society not only in the next few years and while today’s children are growing up, but potentially for generations to come as those children grow up to be responsible, positively contributing citizens; yes, because it will contribute to
social mobility, helping children from the poorest households to achieve a better outcome in life and to achieve their aspirations; and yes, as I said at the outset, because it is a matter of social justice. It is simply the right thing to do.
