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Harry Benson: Would a wise woman pop the question tomorrow?

Harry Benson runs Bristol Community Family Trust, a local charity that is pioneering short relationship courses that teach couples how to stay together, and was deputy chair of the family policy group that produced Fractured Families and Breakthrough Britain.

Marriage may be declining these days but some things never change. Most men still pop the question and most women still like it that way. Above all else, asking for a woman’s hand in marriage is certain to inspire confidence and security about a man’s commitment to the future together as a couple.

Traditionally February 29th, the leap day, is the day when women who are fed up with waiting to be asked get to pop the question themselves. But is this a wise idea?

Before I explain why a wise woman might want to check out some of her assumptions before dragging her loved one up the aisle, allow me to show how this question can shed light on the much wider issue of family breakdown and policy.

For two generations under all governments, there has been a relentless rise in family breakdown, with a net 40,000 new lone parent families formed every year. Lone parenthood invariably makes family life harder and is often tied in with a cycle of negative inputs and outcomes. The cost of supporting Britain’s 1.9 million lone parent families exceeds £20bn every year. The purpose of Fractured Families and Breakthrough Britain was to suggest how government policy might help improve family outcomes, reduce family breakdown, and reduce the ever growing demands on the taxpayer.

Harry Benson: The fundamental flaws of sex education

Harry Benson runs Bristol Community Family Trust, a local charity that is pioneering short relationship courses that teach couples how to stay together, and was deputy chair of the family policy group that produced Fractured Families and Breakthrough Britain.

Yesterday morning the Today programme greeted me with the welcome news that David Cameron wants to address the growing sexualisation of children and society. But when the news item concluded that Mr Cameron’s proposed solution is yet more sex education, my heart sank. The official solution has always seemed the same. Sex education isn’t working yet because we’re not doing enough of it. So let’s have more sex education for ever younger children.

When I delved a little deeper into the story, it turned out that the BBC headline misrepresented Mr. Cameron. What he was actually saying was that more sex education should mean a different kind of sex education. But is he on the right track?

The epidemic of sexually transmitted infections, high rates of teenage pregnancy and vast numbers of abortions are all direct consequences of our liberal and tolerant approach to sex as recreation rather than simply procreation.

According to the Health Protection Agency, the relentless rise in incidences of STIs is especially pronounced amongst teenage girls. Some 42,000 teen pregnancies take place every year in England and Wales, roughly half of which are aborted. This is the highest level in Western Europe.