Britain is the break-up capital of the world: Three in five children will see their co-habiting parents split before they reach their teenage years 

  • In cases where the parents are married, the chances of stability are better 
  • More than a third of marriages fall apart before the children enter their teens 
  • Only a few very poor countries had higher rates of family break-up than the UK

By Mark Wood For The Mail On Sunday

Published: 17:01 EST, 4 February 2017 | Updated: 17:15 EST, 4 February 2017

Children in Britain are more likely to go through the upheaval of a family break-up than almost anywhere else in the world, according to a shocking new study.

Three in five boys and girls born to co-habiting couples will see their parents split up before they reach their teenage years.

In cases where the parents are married, the chances of stability are better, but still more than a third of marriages fall apart before the children enter their teens.

Children in Britain are more likely to go through the upheaval of a family break-up than almost anywhere else in the world

More than a third of marriages fall apart before the children enter their teens

The figures were released by the Marriage Foundation, and its chairman, Sir Paul Coleridge, last night described them as ‘a loud wake-up call that there was a family breakdown epidemic in the UK’.

He added: ‘How many more surveys and reports do we need before the Government puts this problem at the very top of the social justice agenda?’

Based on studies conducted by leading academics and involving thousands of families in more than 20 countries, the figures showed that only a few very poor countries in South America and southern Africa had higher rates of family break-up than Britain.

Spain, Bulgaria, Italy and Georgia had the best records, according to the study.

 

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