Relationships Foundation is calling on the government to set out The Family Deal. It should formally spell out what it needs and expects from families if goals are to be achieved. It must also set out a clear strategy for supporting families. The family deal should be at the heart of the understanding of rights and responsibilities between the government and the general public. It needs to be clearly stated and easily understood. It needs to be written into in departmental plans. But it must also be more than just a political pledge and needs ultimately to be an expression of social consensus.
But first and foremost it requires political leadership – to set out and gain acceptance for a new family deal.
The Relationships Foundation has been making the case for a clear over-arching family policy for a number of years. We begin our days in families, and they care for us in old age. Our families touch every aspect of our development as human beings, and of our lives at work, at home, and in society: as such they offer the greatest potential for social change, for wealth, and wellbeing. Sideline family policy and you court systemic failure.