Letter: Commitment for life

Sir: The headline for Celia Dodd's article on 25 November stated: 'Living in sin hasn't been sinful since the Sixties and nobody calls children born outside marriage bastards.'

This is a misleading approach. Most people believe that it is important for children to be brought up by parents who have publicly committed themselves to living together for life.

It is important to concentrate not on the third of marriages that end in divorce but on the two- thirds that endure, and on how to increase that fraction so that more children (and grandchildren) can grow up as part of a stable family.

It is too easy to be cynical and to accept shabby compromises. Living together can never be the same as a public commitment (whether in church or registry office) entered into in front of family and friends, and which therefore has their support if there are difficult times.

Yours sincerely,

DAVID DAY

Cold Ash, Berkshire