Child Poverty Bill

My Lords, I briefly touched on this issue last month but we were pushed for time and the Minister did not have an opportunity to deal with it as fully as I would have liked. I therefore take this opportunity to return to the aspect of married relationships. As noble Lords will be aware, on our Benches we are most concerned about reinforcing stable and committed relationships between parents. We have been particularly influenced by the data reported by the Centre for Social Justice which shows that married couple relationships are significantly more stable than co-habiting relationships. It states that, "““regardless of socio-economic status and education, cohabiting couples are between two and 2.5 times more likely to break-up than equivalent married couples. Indeed, just one in 11 married couples split up before their child’s fifth birthday compared to one in three unmarried couples””." If the much higher rate of breakdown of cohabiting couples is strongly correlated with poor outcomes and poverty for children, it is clear that we should encourage the more committed relationships associated with the institution of marriage. However, the Government have stopped collecting proper data on the different types of household in terms of whether couples are married or cohabiting. The term ““marital status”” was deleted from government forms in, I believe, 2005 by Jacqui Smith. This act has sent out the message that marriage is not distinct from other forms of couple relationships. This is not in line with the evidence we have. The amendment seeks to ensure that marital status returns to the central position it should enjoy. I beg to move.