Christian charities respond to recent Conservative Party plans to support marriage through the tax system
11 July 2007
The Evangelical Alliance and CARE have welcomed a Conservative policy group’s proposals to give single earner married couples a £20-a-week tax break. The proposal is just one of 200 put forward by the Social Justice Policy Group, headed by former Conservative Party leader Iain Duncan Smith, in their report "Breakthrough Britain: Ending the Costs of Social Breakdown". Others include higher Working Tax Credit payments of £32-a-week for all couples.
Daniel Boucher, Director of Parliamentary Affairs at CARE welcomed the Social Justice Commission’s Transferable Personal Allowance and Tax Credit proposals for which his organisation have long campaigned. He said, "There is no doubt that the current incentives for low to modest income couples with children not to marry are wrong-headed and irresponsible given the clear association between positive child development outcomes and marriage.”
Commenting specifically on the suggestion that the Transferable Personal Allowance proposals constitute ‘moralising’ Boucher continued, “The current arrangements strongly discriminate against couples. The greater ‘moralising’ is being done by those who support the current system, the financial incentives of which, far from being neutral, encourage many couples not to marry.”
Dr R. David Muir, the Evangelical Alliance’s Public Policy Directory, said, “The Alliance’s Faith and Nation report recently called on the Government to promote laws and policies and financial incentives that strengthen marriage and family life as foundational for civil society. I therefore commend Iain Duncan Smith for his fair proposal to support marriage through the tax system.”
Please visit CARE for more information.
2. In considering Daniel Boucher’s statement about ‘moralising’ the reader should note that the proposed Transferable Personal Allowance for married couples is worth much less than the current ‘couple’s penalty’ in the large majority of cases.
3. CARE is a registered Christian charity which seeks to combine practical caring initiatives with public policy on social and ethical issues. CARE campaigns, provides resources, undertakes caring work and brings Christian insight and experience to matters of family, education, media, citizenship and bioethics. For further information please visit www.care.org.uk
4. The Evangelical Alliance UK, formed in 1846, is an umbrella group representing over one million evangelical Christians in the UK and is made up of member churches, organisations and individuals. As part of a movement ‘uniting to change society’, the Alliance promotes unity and truth, acts as an evangelical voice to the state, society and the wider Church, and provides resources to help members and other evangelicals live out their faith in their communities.
