The Family
Soul of Britain, with Michael Buerk, 2nd July 2000
Soul of Britain, written and presented by Michael Buerk was broadcast in nine episodes in June & July 2000. This BBC TV series explored what people in Britain today really believe. What is their attitude to moral issues? What do they think about Christianity? The BBC commissioned the largest ever survey of beliefs and attitudes for this series.
Family under threat
In this program, Michael Buerk asks how much the family really matters.
- Britain has one of the highest divorce rates in Europe.
- Almost half of all marriages fail.
- If present divorce rates continue, more than one child in four will experience the divorce of their parents before they reach age sixteen.
- Lone parenting has increased three-fold in the last twenty years.
- 1 in 10 families is a lone parent family
- 4 in 10 people are born outside marriage
- 1 in 10 of us cohabiting
- Annual marriage rates are at their lowest since records began in 1840
From all these facts and figures, it appears that the traditional family is in decline. But is this really so?
According to the Soul of Britain survey:
- 80% of us believe that marriage is not out-dated
- 76% of us expect our marriages to last for life
- 46% of us disapprove of lone parenting as a lifestyle choice
Columnist Melanie Phillips argues that the traditional nuclear family has been at the root of our democracy, because it leads to the formation of people who are secure, stable, inner-directed and self-confident, and who have a sense of duty and responsibility to each other.
Alternatives
The program explores the possibility that the Asian 'extended family' is a suitable alternative. Unfortunately, extended families also seem to be under threat from current cultural changes.
Another alternative which is enthusiastically propounded by its supporters is the 'blended family' or step-family.
Traditional families are better for children
Bob Rowthorne, professor of economics at Cambridge University challenged the propaganda that the blended family or step family 'at its best' can provide a good alternative to the traditional family. He claimed that there is overwhelming evidence that on average (rather than 'at the best') step families are very dangerous places for children to be. For example, the level of child murder is many times higher in step families than in traditional married couples.
Rowthorne also pointed out that children do not do as well in lone-parent families or in cohabiting families as they do in stable married couples.
It appears that as a matter of fact, rather than dogmatism, the traditional family of father and mother in marriage is the best environment for children to grow up in. Of course, this is not acceptable to many people today, and the opposite position was argued vociferously during this program.