A senior High Court judge has caused controversy by claiming that couples should not have children until they are ready to be married.
Sir Paul Coleridge, a judge with long service in family law, says couples should only have children when they are sure their relationship is strong enough to cope with the stresses and strains that go alongside having children, adding that the best relationship to be in with this in mind is a marriage because those have a tendency to last while cohabitation does not. He said people have no right to have children; they only have responsibilities and duties to do the best they can for them.
His comments come in the light of figures from the Office for National Statistics which showed the number of children born to unmarried mothers reaching 47.5% and set to pass 50% in the next few years. Separate research from the Marriage Foundation appeared to back Sir Paul’s arguments as it showed that children whose parents were not married were twice as likely to be involved in a family break-up as those whose parents were married.
Sir Paul said there was widespread ignorance in the political establishment about the benefits of marriage, but singled out Iain Duncan Smith as one figure willing to voice his support for the institution. He said that the reality of family life was simple: “If your relationship is stable enough to cope with the rigours of child rearing then you should consider seriously adding the protection of marriage to your relationship.”
