Single mothers can lose approximately £10,000 annually if they marry due to a 'couple penalty' embedded in the benefits system, according to a report by the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ).
Welfare regulations can lead to a significant financial reduction for individuals who enter into marriage or cohabitation. The CSJ report examined scenarios involving a 30-year-old single mother out of the workforce caring for a one-year-old child. It found that cohabiting with a partner earning £20,000 would make her approximately £5,700 poorer per year, with the deficit rising to £9,600 if the partner earned £30,000.
This financial shift occurs because most benefits are calculated based on household income rather than individual income. A lone parent would typically qualify for the standard Universal Credit allowance, along with child and housing support, which can be reduced or eliminated when a partner's income is considered.
Dr. Harry Benson, a researcher and author of the report titled 'Stability Advantage,' stated that the current system "is effectively discouraging the very behaviour that could reduce long-term poverty." He argued that policymakers should acknowledge that "marriage itself is associated with a substantial reduction in the risk of union dissolution."
Analysis of the Millennium Cohort Study, included in the CSJ report, revealed that over the first 14 years of parenthood, 26 percent of couples in the poorest fifth of households who married eventually separated. This rate is lower than the 46 percent separation rate among the richest fifth of couples who never married.
"The finding that poorer married parents are more stable than richer unmarried parents challenges a deeply embedded assumption in policy thinking," Dr. Benson noted. He suggested that "family structure is not merely a consequence of economic conditions but an important determinant of them." Furthermore, he stated that "family stability is closely linked to economic mobility, with separation acting as a key driver of downward movement and stability supporting upward progress."
Dr. Benson concluded that a poverty-reduction strategy that overlooks family stability "will remain incomplete." He emphasized that "the task for policymakers is therefore to ensure that the system supports, rather than undermines, long-term commitment." He proposed that "Addressing the 'couple penalty' and redesigning early years support are practical steps toward that goal." The government, he added, can help foster an environment where "more families are able to form, endure, and thrive."