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RECESSION PUTS FAMILIES ON THE EDGE
Australia’s declining economic fortunes threaten to reverse the growth in Australia’s birth rate and destabilise families, says a new report released on Wednesday by The Centre for Independent Studies.
In Family on the Edge – Stability and Fertility in Prosperity and Recession, Barry Maley calls for:
- A requirement that divorce applications be made consensually by both partners in the first instance, with serious marital misconduct being taken into account in divorce settlements.
- A simple and universal family entitlement, free of means testing, to replace the existing system of government family payments.
‘The correlation between rising prosperity and higher fertility and family stability is clear.’ concludes Maley.
‘Unemployment, the recession, and reduced government support for families could result in more couples deciding not to have children. Universal concessions for families are not ‘middle-class welfare’ but a legitimate support structure that helps give parents the confidence to start a family.’
Government should not back away from fair, universal family support.
Family law also has a vital role to play in giving partners the confidence they need to marry and start a family. ‘Marital and de facto stability is radically uncertain at present,’ says Maley. ‘The family courts are replete with adversarial confrontations.’
‘Acknowledging the reality of serious marital misconduct in family law and adjusting divorce settlements accordingly would be conducive to better marriages. This would not bring “fault” back into divorce, only into some settlements.’
Encouraging confidence and stability in marriages should be an explicit government policy.
The embargoed report is available at www.cis.org.au/policy_monographs/pm101.pdf
Barry Maley is a Senior Fellow at The Centre for Independent Studies.
He is available for comment.
