Relationships/Love

Relationships with others provide security and companionship, often helping us through our most difficult times; however, for many people, relationships are often the cause of some of the most traumatic experiences too.

Our society is changing: the most recent statistics indicate that both divorce and marriage rates are at 25-year highs and all-time lows respectively. Non-traditional families and relationships are becoming the norm, with new social and caring networks surrounding them.

The divorce process is an incredibly fraught time, through which we believe individuals should be supported and assisted not just by friends and family, but by the legal system, the state and other institutions (such as banks, government agencies, etc).

The value of unpaid support that carers provide reached £87 billion in 2007 – more than the 2006-7 NHS spend. The burden of caring falls more on women than men, with a higher percentage of women caring than men and for more hours per week.[10]

  1. Can the government better support and assist non-traditional forms of relationships?
  2. Should there be any taxation or legal provisions for individuals such as partners, siblings, or parents and children who co-habit for long periods of time but are not legally married or in a civil relationship?
  3. How should young people be educated about relationships, sex, STIs, and growing up? What role might schools and parents have in this?
  4. How can social links be re-kindled in our society? Does the government have any role to play in this or does it fall to voluntary organisations?
  5. How can we generate social networks for those who do not naturally have them?
  6. How can we support carers in the valuable work that they undertake for our society? What actions could the government take to better recognise and support carers’ role?

[10] http://www.fawcettsociety.org.uk/documents/Time%20spent%20caring(1).pdf

Leave a comment