So the Tories and Labour are rushing towards the bountiful world of good and plenty and all that’s right in this world. A rush to support the Family. For the Tories in particular, this manifests itself via a minor perk in the tax system.
I don’t understand it. If the underlying motivation to support the family is, as they say it is, to ensure that children get a good start in life, then the best way of achieving that is to ensure there’s top quality investment in children themselves. In their schools. In support outside school in clubs, sports and so on. And in supporting their home life through ensuring they get what they need like a home, food, and all the other stuff they need completely regardless of the structure of the particular family unit which they belong to.
I guess the reason this kind of posturing narks me is because it’s exclusive, not inclusive. A minority of people live in what we all think of as a typical family unit (married couple with children), with the majority living their lives in some other way. So why would a tax break for married couples, amounting to something like a couple of hundred quid a year, help in any way to achieve the above objectives? Would it ensure that family unit is more stable? If a married couple had that extra little perk in the tax system, would it make them think twice about divorcing if their marriage didn’t work out?
Of course it wouldn’t. And even if it had a scintilla of a chance of doing so, I’d hope that those involved thought the better of it. Staying together in a relationship that doesn’t work for the sake of a minor tax allowance? That doesn’t strike me as the best family unit for children to get the best start in life.
Of course, I’m lying when I say I don’t understand it. I understand all too well that the Tories – and Labour – need to reach out to those middle-England swing voters. The Mail and Express readers who like this kind of thing.
Done in the right way, support for families can achieve the underlying objectives that people are after. But that doesn’t mean it has to be done in such an exclusive way.
Keith's take 