UK Points the Way

At 40%, we're heading in this direction.

In many parts of the country more than two thirds of children are born out of wedlock, according to shocking official figures. The statistics reveal that the number of births to single mothers and unmarried couples is set to exceed 50 per cent across Britain in the next five years. Critics pounced on the figures as evidence of deteriorating family values since the election of Labour, which has scrapped recognition of marriage in the tax system.

Out of wedlock: the incidence of children being born to single mothers or unmarried couples is on the rise In 1997 the proportion of births outside marriage was just 36.7 per cent. By 2008 - the latest year for which figures are available - this had risen to 45 per cent - 30 per cent born to unmarried cohabiting couples and 15 per cent born to single mothers.

The damning figures, from the Office for National Statistics, show that in some areas it has become the norm for children to be born outside wedlock. In Knowsley, near Liverpool, 68.5 per cent of children were born outside marriage in 2007; the highest in the country. The figure is on course to exceed 75 per cent by 2014.

Anybody old enought to remember when this actually carried a social stigma?