by Obianuju Mbah, Christian Today
A leading family researcher has warned that Britain has become “dangerously complacent” about the scale of family breakdown.
Dr Harry Benson, Research Director at the Marriage Foundation, said the latest official data on families and households pointed to a “profound social change” that had received little public attention despite long-term consequences for family stability and child wellbeing.
He said that seemingly stable household figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) mask a far deeper social crisis affecting children and parents across the country.
While the figures show only modest changes in household composition over the past decade, Dr Benson worries about the growing number of children who are no longer living with both of their natural parents.
“Nearly half of all teenagers are no longer living with both natural parents,” he said, describing the trend as roughly five times the level seen during his own childhood in the 1970s.
According to the ONS, married households with dependent children increased moderately from 59% in 2015 to 61% in 2025, while cohabiting households fell marginally from 16% to 15%.
The proportion among couple households with dependent children who were married stayed stable at 79%, while cohabiting couples reduced minimally from 21% to 19%.