4Children calls for national overhaul of Britain's public services and neighbourhoods to support families and prevent crisis

56% of parents believe family life is harder than it was 20 years ago.

In a YouGov poll of 2000+ people, commissioned by 4Children to coincide with the publication of its Manifesto: Making Britain Great for Children and Families, 60% of parents think public services should be aimed at families. Of these, 44% of parents say Britain’s services are not good enough for families and need to be dramatically changed and only 6% think no changes are needed to public services.

More than one in four parents of children under 18 (27%) don’t think their neighbourhood is a good place for children to grow up; over half of parents (56%) believe family life is harder than it was twenty years ago; and four out of ten people (40%) believe today’s children will have a worse life than theirs. 

Many people also believe a range of public services are not family friendly, with only 4% of parents judging job centres as family friendly and just under a third of parents judging childcare services and GP practices (30% and 29% respectively) to be family friendly.

In its poll and Manifesto, 4Children throws down the gauntlet to politicians, policy makers and decision makers, calling for them to reshape this country’s public services, spaces and workplaces in response to the dramatic changes to modern family life. The charity is calling for national and local leaders to sign up to a Family Commitment which would include:

• A Family Test across national and local government to ensure policies are family friendly
• A major overhaul of support for vulnerable families, including early on to prevent crisis
• A commitment to family friendly planning and public spaces
• A major house building programme of affordable and social housing
• Local, joined up help in every community through Children and Family Centres and Hubs for children 0–19 and their families
• A comprehensive universal childcare guarantee from 0-14
• Part-time and flexible working to become the norm, including flexible maternity and paternity leave

4Children launches it's Manifesto at an event at the House of Commons on Wednesday 15th January, with Nick Clegg MP, the Deputy Prime Minister, speaking.

Anne Longfield OBE, Chief Executive of 4Children says:

Too many children and families are struggling in Britain today with limited potential and life chances as a result.  Family life has changed beyond recognition over the past 30 years and our services and practices have often failed to keep up. 

It’s time to change. We need to have a major shift in ambition if we’re going to make Britain great for families. If we want a country where families and children are valued and flourishing, then politicians and policy makers and those providing public services and running businesses all need to change the way they listen and respond to what families really want.

We also need, as a society, to give our children the aspiration and ability to flourish as individuals; to radically change the country’s system of support for those most in need; and to redesign our communities for Britain’s children and families of the future.

It’s clear from what people tell us that this country’s systems and approaches are not working for many families; and they are now demanding smart-thinking from all political parties to help make Britain a better place to bring up children.

Anne Longfield concludes:

We spend £9 billion a year on managing troubled families; £46 billion a year on family breakdown ; and £29 billion a year on tackling child poverty; yet we could save £32,000 per family a year if crisis was averted. 

This is not just about more money, however, but about a revolution in how we run services and structures to find smarter ways to support family life. We need services that understand the speed and complexity of modern life and join together locally to offer families the support they need.

We also need to change the current costly approach of leaving troubles to deteriorate into problems. We need a new approach, which steps into support families early; with a “stitch in time” culture that focuses on avoiding problems arising rather than on spending large amounts of money to patch up problems after they’ve occurred.

We recognise the changes that successive Governments, employers and local authorities have made over the last few years that benefit families - making flexible working available to more people; building the Children’s Centre network; investing in the Troubled Families Initiative.

However, these changes need to be seen as just the foundation for a complete rethink of how the country approaches supporting family life, which recognises the amazing power and worth of having flourishing families and the importance of helping those families who are just coping or struggling to flourish.

If this country is going to compete globally in the future, we need to ensure we are all helping to make the most of the biggest asset the country has - children and their families.”

- Ends -

1. DCLG - The Fiscal Case for Working with Troubled Families (2013)
2. The Relationships Foundation - The Cost of Family Failure Index 2013 (2013)
3. Joseph Rowntree Foundation (2013)
4. DCLG - The Fiscal Case for Working with Troubled Families (2013)

Notes to Editors

For further information or to request an interview, please contact Julie Evans at Julie.Evans@4Children.org.uk / 020 7522 6928 or 0791 787 0641 or Fiona Callister at Fiona.Callister@4Children.org.uk / 020 7522 6986.

All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 2,221 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 20th-23rd December 2013. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all UK adults (aged 18+).
 

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