Marriage does not improve children's development

20 Jul 2011 12:20 PM

The Prime Minister, David Cameron, has repeatedly expressed his desire to support marriage through the tax system. Among the possible rationales for such a policy is a belief that having married parents, as opposed to cohabiting parents, improves children’s cognitive or social development.

New research published today by researchers at the Institute for Fiscal Studies, and funded by the Nuffield Foundation, finds little or no evidence that marriage itself has any effect on children’s social or cognitive development.

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