Couples are waiting later and later to have children due to the cost of living in many areas of the country – of which housing plays such a massive part. It is certainly encouraging to see action is being taken to reduce some barriers to building, but this should be done with more haste.
It might smack of ‘social engineering’, but the UK needs to tackle the structural disincentives to starting a family before it’s too late.
Plus: The Telegraph’s war on Nadine. Bias at the Foreign Office. Euro-rules drive me bonkers. And: Cameron’s LadyShambles.
Cristina Odone is a former editor of the Catholic Herald and has just written What women want… and how they can get it, which is published by the Centre for Policy Studies. Labour prides itself on “listening to women”. Its champions regularly point to the narrowing gap between men’s and women’s pay, extended maternity leave, […]
The children’s care system delivers poor outcomes for both taxpayers and our most vulnerable children. Reform must be a priority.