Rich people get married and stay together but poor people do not, Conservative MP claims

'Where there is poverty, family breakdown is often not far behind - and while poverty is often a driver of family breakdown, crucially so too is family breakdown a driver of poverty,' Michael Tomlinson tells Parliament

Michael Tomlinson warned marriage appears to be disappearing in Government policy-making. (NFU pics (CC BY-NC 2.0))

Rich people get married and stay together while poor people do not, a Conservative MP has claimed.

Michael Tomlinson warned marriage appears to be disappearing in Government policy-making "just as much as it's disappearing in our poorest communities", as he contributed to the Budget debate in the Commons.

The MP for Mid Dorset and North Poole insisted more money should be spent on preventing family breakdown, which in turn would mean lower amounts are spent on dealing with the consequences.

"I'm very grateful to the work of the Centre for Social Justice and the work they do in this area because it's from the CSJ that I learnt that despite the increased poverty risks, it's estimated that the Treasury spends about £1 in preventative spending for every £6,000 responding to the consequences of family breakdown," he told the Commons. "Further, it'd appear that marriage is disappearing in policy-making - just as much as it's disappearing in our poorest communities.

"Because 87 per cent of high-earners marry, 24 per cent of low-earners marry - the rich get married and stay together, the poor don't. Why does this matter? Because where there is poverty, family breakdown is often not far behind - and while poverty is often a driver of family breakdown, crucially so too is family breakdown a driver of poverty.

"According to the Department for Work and Pensions, children who experience family breakdown are twice as likely to fall into poverty. And despite the chuntering from the benches opposite, the public really do get this - recent CSJ polling confirmed that young people aged 14 to 17 aspire to a lasting a relationship, just as much and they find that just as important as they aspire to a long-term career.

"It's clear support to the family is important for social mobility and it's also important for alleviating poverty. Marriage and the family should not be disappearing from Government policy-making. When it comes to the Budget and our public services, it seems to me that more can be spent on prevention and this would mean less is spent on the consequences of family breakdown."

Replying to the debate for Labour, shadow health secretary Jon Ashworth said that Mr Tomlinson had "complained about chuntering on our side as he spoke about the importance of marriage."

"I agree marriage is an immensely important institution, but I'd say to him that children should take the priority in social policy and the Government should be investing in children - regardless of the marriage status of their parents."

Press Association