MAKING BRITAIN MORE FAMILY-FRIENDLY

Leading on from David Willett's speech on the family, we have now launched our draft manifesto on the subject.
We can’t go on ignoring the importance of strong families. They provide the stability, warmth and love we need to flourish as human beings, and the relationships they foster are the bedrock on which society is built. The current complacent attitude to commitment has
done untold harm, and the narrow child-centred approach currently pursued ignores the importance of strengthening the relationships between all family members – children, parents, grandparents and the wider family. As a
consequence, Britain is one of the least family-friendly countries in the western world.
This will change with a Conservative government. We
will not be neutral on this. Britain’s families will get our full backing.
Good parenting makes a big difference to our future success or failure
– the warmth of their parenting is as important to a child’s life chances as the wealth of their upbringing. Of course money matters, which is why a Conservative government will help families with their finances.
We also need to help families with all the other pressures they face: lack of time, the impact of work, worries about schools and crime, poor housing. And if we want to give children the best chance in life –whatever background they are from – the right structures need to be in place: strong and secure families, confident and able parents, an ethic of responsibility instilled from a young age.
Together with our focus on reversing educational failure, worklessness, debt and addiction, our support for families will make it much easier for every family to provide an environment in which children can
flourish. Strengthening families will also increase social mobility, and play an important part in helping us work towards our aspiration of ending child poverty by 2020.
Don't be surprised if I refer back to this policy again and again! I feel passionately about giving all our children the best start in life!
Giving children the best start in caring and loving families is not only good for them, but good for society as a whole.