Ministers have been urged to put family at the centre of policymaking, with the children’s commissioner for England saying “investing in family is the single greatest investment you can make”.
Dame Rachel de Souza has called on the incoming Conservative leader’s administration to “prioritise” putting families “at the heart” of policymaking as outlined in the government-commissioned family review.
In her introduction to the review, De Souza said she turned to families across the UK and England to find out “what family means to them”.
The review warns that gaps in official data fail to capture families as they see themselves. It says the government should be “unashamed” about wanting to support and strengthen families.
But it added that this will require “changes to the way public services are delivered, to ensure that all families can get the kind of help they need to reach this goal. But it will also require broader changes to public policy.”
There is for example, “significant variation” in access to services for parents around the country, the review finds.
This first part of the study into family life reveals how family structure has changed over the past 20 years, with fewer married couples, more cohabiting couples and fewer “traditional” nuclear family units.
But the proportion of single-parent families has not changed much, with 23% of families headed by a lone parent, and about 90% of lone parents women. About 63% of families are married couples with children, while 14% are cohabiting couples.
According to the review, family has a “protective effect” that insulates families from challenging times.
In a speech on Thursday at the event hosted by Policy Exchange, a right-leaning thinktank, De Souza will say society must not be “afraid” or “squeamish” to talk about family.
She will say: “Investing in family is the single greatest investment you can make. If we do it right, it is a self-sustaining unit and there to catch us when we fall, and if you are part of a strong family, you cast your net wider to catch others.
“I am calling on everyone to put family centre-stage of their agenda. If we get this right at a critical moment for families across the country, we will benefit generations to come and change children’s lives.”
The second part of the review will be published later this year and is expected to look at how services can be designed to support families’ needs.
