AMID the spectacular collapse of marriage as a social institution, comes dispassionate evidence today that should give couples - and the government - pause for thought.
For figures from the Office for National Statistics show that half of all couples who cohabit and have children will break up by the time the child is five, compared with just eight per cent of married parents.
It is a revelation that pours scorn on Home Secretary Jack Straw's suggestion only last week that marriage is not particularly important in building family stability.
This proof that it is - and when Britain has Europe's highest rate of family breakdown - ought to make the government rethink its lack of commitment to marriage, if only by revising the tax and benefits system that is biased in favour of the single,
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