UK Government ministers should start promoting marriage, not celebrity culture, former Tory leader, Iain Duncan Smith, has said.
Mr Duncan Smith, who is the Work and Pensions Secretary, in what is
the clearest pro-marriage statement since the formation of the Coalition
government, says that young people are being actively discouraged from
marriage and that it was "absurd and damaging" for ministers not to
advocate marriage.
Mr Duncan Smith added that the current system of benefits stifles
people's aspirations to build and commit to a strong family.
He
believes marriage has become the preserve of the better off.
According to Mr Duncan Smith, “We do a disservice to society if we
ignore the evidence which shows that stable families tend to be
associated with better outcomes for children.”
He said, "There are few
more powerful tools for promoting stability than the institution of
marriage.”
Mr Duncan Smith is set to begin a thorough overhaul of the benefits
system and he warns that the Government needs to understand better the
costs of family breakdown.
In a speech as part of Marriage Week UK, he stated, "Over the years
the political establishment has frowned if a mainstream politician
mentions marriage. The prevailing view was that to extol the virtues
of this most fundamental institution somehow meant that you were going
to stigmatise those who were not married.”
"This is an absurd and damaging assumption. Government must
understand the effect that family breakdown can have on the well-being
of both adults and children. The financial costs of family breakdown
are incredibly high. But what is most painful to see is the human cost –
the wasted potential, the anti-social behaviour, and the low
self-esteem.”
Mr Duncan Smith’s comments will be welcomed by many Tory supporters
and MPs who are still waiting for David Cameron to show any sign that he
will make good his promise to recognise marriage in the tax system.
The Work and Pensions Secretary cited surveys of young people showing
they aspire to marriage but often find it financially difficult.
He
said, “We have to ask ourselves: if people from the youngest age aspire
to make such a commitment in their lives, what stops them doing so?”
Mr Duncan Smith pointed out that the welfare system encourages those
on low incomes to stay single or live together but not commit to
marriage, because of the benefits they will lose if they marry.
Research by the Centre for Social Justice, a think tank founded by Mr
Duncan Smith, shows that a majority of people who are out of work or in
part-time work think low-earning and unemployed people are better off
living apart than as a couple.
The Minister continued: “Government cannot and should not try to
lecture people or push them on this matter, but it is quite legitimate
to ensure people have the opportunity to achieve their aspirations.”
Mr Duncan Smith criticised the “celebrity focused media,” where film
stars, professional footballers and television soap stars are given
awards but fail to identify marriage as a good thing.
He added, “Fashionably dismissed or taken for granted, the commitment
of two people to put selfish interest to one side for the sake of each
other and the children they raise is simply the very best of us as human
beings. Furthermore, marriage is perhaps the best antidote to the
celebrity, self-obsessed culture we live in, for it is about
understanding that our true value is lastingly expressed through the
lives of others we commit to.”