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Betrayal of a generation
Last updated at 16:22pm on 14.02.07
Family breakdown, drink, drugs, teenage sex and fear of violence have left British children the worst off in the world's 21 richest nations.
The damning verdict was delivered in a United Nations report.
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• Baby boomers urged to consider legacy for future generations
Even though Britain is the fourth wealthiest nation in the world, the child welfare agency Unicef found children were far better off and better cared-for in less prosperous countries.
The 20 above us included Hungary, Portugal, the Czech Republic, Greece and Poland. The Netherlands was ranked the best country for children to live in, with Ireland ninth.
The report put Britain above only three countries for educational standards and second last for numbers of single parents and stepfamilies. It was the country where fewest children found others of the same age 'kind and helpful'.
Rates of teenage births were the worst in the developed world. British children were most likely to be drunk from the age of 11 onwards, most likely to have had sex by 15 and highly likely to smoke cannabis. Their diet was also poor - they were third from bottom for eating fruit.
The findings are a scathing attack on Gordon Brown's claim to have lifted hundreds of thousands of children out of poverty and showed starkly how youngsters suffer when they are brought up by single parents or their families break up.
Shadow chancellor George Osborne said last night: 'This report tells the truth about Brown's Britain.
'After ten years of his welfare and education policies, our children have the lowest wellbeing in the developed world.
'The Chancellor has failed this generation of children and will fail the next if he's given a chance. We need a new approach.'
The Government-appointed Children's Commissioner for England, Sir Albert Aynsley-Green, said: 'We must acknowledge that these problems cannot be solved by policy and funding alone.
'There is a crisis at the heart of our society and we must not continue to ignore the impact of our attitudes towards children and young people and the effect this has on their well-being.'
Unicef found that deep poverty remains and alongside it the worst levels of drinking and under-age sex.
Britain was only just above the bottom of the table when ranked for child drug abuse, teenage pregnancy and levels of bullying and violence.
The report challenged Labour's guiding principle that all kinds of families are just as good and that children suffer mainly from poverty and 'bad parenting'.
The Government has stripped the last tax breaks from marriage while bringing in benefits like tax credits which help single parents rather than couples.
Yet Unicef linked single parent families and stepfamilies with poor education, poor health and poor quality jobs.
It said the lack of two birth parents, rather than poverty, was the biggest problem for children with single mothers or from broken families.
Sociologist Patricia Morgan, author of a series of studies of changing family structures and childhood, said: 'The Government has been ignoring evidence about the effect of family fragmentation on children for so long - will it believe it when it comes from the UN?'
'We have tested to destruction the idea that family structure does not matter. Government neglect of two-parent families is criminal.'
Unicef's 'Report Card: An Overview of Child Well-Being in Rich Countries' was billed as 'a comprehensive assessment of the lives and well-being of children'.
It concluded that 'economic poverty alone is an inadequate measure of children's overall well-being' and warned that across the developed world 'many of the corrosive social problems affecting the quality of life have their genesis in the changing ecology of childhood.'
Labour came to power pledging to promote 'education, education, education' and slash teen pregnancies and risky behaviour by the young. But Unicef paints a picture of failure on all fronts.
Ministers stayed silent on the agency's findings.
Children's Minister Beverley Hughes - who has taken the lead in promoting initiatives like the childcare-based Sure Start and an education curriculum for babies as young as three months -was not available, her spokesman said.
Only junior Work and Pensions Minister Jim Murphy was said to be preparing to appear on radio and TV broadcasts.
A spokesman for his department, which runs much of the benefit system, said: 'We recognise that Unicef does vital work in this area.
'But in many cases the data used is several years old and does not reflect more recent improvements in the UK, such as the continuing fall in the teenage pregnancy rate or in the proportion of children living in workless households.'
Latest Government teen pregnancy figures, however, show that falls in the rate are slight and its targets will not be achieved.
Robert Whelan of the Civitas think-tank said: 'I have seen the evidence piling up for 20 years that married families are better for children than single parents or stepfamilies. It has become impossible to ignore.
'The question is how long the Government can close its eyes to the reality.'
Reader views (20)
Canada and the US didn't do so well on the survey either, is that Blair's fault as well? You can hardly blame the PM for societal shifts. It's not about money, it's about parents and their shifting priorities.
We don't watch a lot of TV and we eat food that we have actually cooked ourselves. It's not rocket science. Healthy food is cheaper than processed food. And yes, I do work outside the home. But when I'm home I spend time with my kids. I'm their mother. That's why I had them.
Why feminism (ie: equal pay for equal work and respect for women as people) is to blame for all of society's ills makes no sense. How can giving our daughters opportunity and respect be a negative thing? If little boys and girls are raised to respect each other, then ultimately we all benefit. Blaming the UN report and problems with society on women is ridiculous. Blaming Blair for widespread sub-par parenting is also ridiculous.
- Natalie, Calgary, Canada
Firstly, Tezza, you cannot blame feminism. Feminism looks for equality, not mad ideas. Political correctness, on the other hand, is partly to blame. We all roll our eyes at the ludicruous stories that hit the headlines day after day. It's time common sense came back to the fore.
Neither, necessarily, is lack of money to blame. My Dad came from a very poor family, but neither he nor his three siblings decended into crime or drugs and grew up into decent people.
I think the wholesale destruction of the traditional married family unit by this Government does have a lot to do with the result of this report. Crime has risen because the Government has let it with its pathetic weak stance against criminals. People are having to work harder and longer to pay the vastly increased tax burdens this Government has imposed upon us, which unfortunately leaves children with less time with their parents than is idea. If we had a Government with backbone and common sense we would not be languishing so far down this table.
- Shirley, Kent
Tellingly this article doesn't mention one of the major UNICEF findings that child poverty has doubled since 1979 when Thatcher took power. To their shame after 18 years of general Tory underinvestment Labour have not done enough in their 10 years to reverse this damage.
Couple the greed is good materialist mentality of Thatcherism in society, and the woolly, "everyone is just as capable as everyone else" mentality of some of the teaching profession and it is no wonder kids grow up confused, having been lulled into believing they can be an astronaut when they can't read and write or be a footballer when they weigh 20 stone. It must be a disappointment when they are left on the dole or flipping burgers when they leave school. The equality we sell our children is a lie.
Add to this divorce, alcoholism, drugs and it paints a pretty bleak picture of life for kids. Children are cooped up inside during the holidays because their parents believe all the tabloid scare stories of what could happen to them if the played outside and they are fed sweets and junk food so they become pasty, fat and depressed.
A lot of parents don't seem to want to take responsibility for their children either - they don't want to educate or entertain them and they won't accept responsibilty if their kids misbehave in the streets or at school. We should look at what other countries are doing right with their children and try and implement some of it here.
- Mickey, Southam UK
I'm a single mother who moved to Paris 6 years ago after living in London. Here there is a real pride in society, which includes giving children a good education and providing child care so you can still work normal hours and still have time for your children. The education here is excellent and is a big part in providing children with a good basis for a successful future. There is lots of help for people who need it. Most people work 35 hours /week so there is plenty of time to spend with your family. I spent my whole childhood in Sweden, and like in France, society makes it easier for you to bring up children - there are social 'codes' of what's acceptable or not.
Most people I know in the UK struggle financially which must put a huge strain on families. It's a society driven by what's trendy , C celebrities, tabloids and what's happening on big brother. and it's all about 'each to their own' - there's no sense what so ever of a general pride in society that you get here. For a rich developed country the gap between rich and poor is shocking.(And it's a total myth that you pay less tax in the UK...)
What I do here would be totally and utterly impossible in London on the same salary. Here I can provide an excellent, secure future for my child - in England I could not.
- Fiona, France
I throw this out - make of it what you will - but I think I speak for just about the whole country when I say this Valentine's Day that I jope and pray that Tony Blair, his wife and everyone else that enriches himself so unashamedly at UK taxpayers' expense encounters a deeply unhappy personal life for whatever time they remain on this planet.
- Givenuphope, London
The bottom line is that we need to get back to basic family values, basic morals and respect for those older than ourselves and those in authority e.g. the police (and yes they have most definitely earned it). I'm not suggesting that women should stay at home to look after the kids, in most cases people can't afford to. However, past generations (mine included) had perfectly good childhoods without both parents working, without the need for computer games meaning we sat in front of the tv for hours on end, and we certainly didn't need mobile phones etc. Furthermore, I wouldn't have dared speak to an adult the way kids these days talk to people. Kids in the majority are spoilt rotten these days and its very much to the detriment of themselves and society in general. Put a kid today in 1960s or 70s England and they woudn't last 5mins.
- Geraldine, London
I have a five year old daughter and lived in the Netherlands for over four years. Unfortunately I will soon be returning to the UK and this report doesn't bode well, though I have suspected it for many years. I have noticed that the family unit is much stronger among the Dutch and a great focus is made on family activities. Children look to their parents and teachers for guidance and is reciprocated in a positive manor, not influenced by current social fads, in other words the children learn traditional values. This is reflected in their behaviour towards their peers whom they treat with respect. In the UK we rely far to heavily on society for guidance but from a government that's not fit for purpose, this is doomed to failure
Sadly family values are lost in the UK today, largely as a result of the selfish culture that pervades society, from the top of government right down to our own children. We have to move from a blame culture to a do culture and this present government is only capable of one.
- Albert, The Hague, Netherlands
Here's your legacy Mr Blair. You have destroyed a generation.
- Bernard Lawson, London
Isn't it funny that in the past this government have cited the alleviation of child poverty as one of their successes. Now we see that has been yet more spin - child poverty has in fact doubled since 1979 - disturbing news and yet somehow unsurprising. It's official - this Blair government really have caused everyone nothing but grief since their arrival.
- Athena Murphy, Hampstead, UK
Looking for scapegoats, I'd blame Blair - but how long is a 'generation' - isn't it more than 10 years? So it's also the previous governement's fault too?
Or maybe we all have to take some responsibility for ourselves and our current values.
A selfish, greedy, materialistic, celebrity obsessed society, where Big Brother type TV is called 'reality'? What example do we set children? Maybe we are all too comfortable to be bothered - my father in law spent time in a concentration camp - certainly taught him how to appreciate what he's now got.
- Alfie, London, UK
Children's needs are simple, Mom and Dad, and love.
Going to the park, home made food, Mom there when you come home from school mean more than computers, foreign holidays, etc.
- John Jones, Hampton
I blame the parents... But it seems that people find it much easier to blame anything but...
- Gb, London, UK
10 years of a Labour Government, and are children are the worst off, what would another term with Labour bring, isn't it about time that Labour ministers got their heads out of the sand and started doing the right thing with the British public!
- Raminder Bhalla, Northolt
What do we expect from a country set up to only allow the very rich and welfare class (labour voters) to have children. Where every system which has worked well for 100s of years is smashed due to it being not politically correct. Your average man and women have to work every hour God sends just to prop up these two groups. Time to spend with the kids or any part of the family for mr and mrs average you have got to be joking.
As it now doesn't pay to work hard to get away from a poor background you will see the welfare class swell. I see friends purposely joining it and it pays handsomely. They wonnt marry as it means losing benefits. They now have time with kids but as they don't work or do anything meaningful I can't see their kids turning out to be useful members of society with lazy role models.
There is no poverty as such. Poverty is where you starve or cannot afford shoes. What we are missing here is TIME nothing else, and we wonder why the French, Germans and the rest of Europe cling onto their shorter working week and workers rights, I think we have found out.
- Geoff Jarvis, Near BATH UK
The findings in this report come as no surprise to me. My son was recently mugged for his mobile phone for the second time. All his friends have been robbed at least once and most of them are scared to go out. How sad that our society has come to this. Where good kids can't go out without the fear of being robbed or knifed. Thanks Mr Blair for all you've done for our great country. You will go down in history as the Prime Minister who ruined Britain.
- Tina, London
Has anyone else noticed that USA ranks 20th? That's very interesting.
- Isabel, Woking, England
Tezza I agree with you about the political correctness and the irresponsibilty of today's generation but I can't agree with you about feminism. You are essentially proposing that women go back to being treated as lessers by their male counterparts - would you like us to not have the vote too?
You can be a successful business woman AND home maker. Not everyone can manage it but some can and they in turn can breed happy, successful children. It depends how it's done. Spoiling kids because you're at work and feel guilty never works but if they're unspoilt and they see their mother can work and have her own life what is wrong with that?
The single parent family isn't exactly running amok with feminist career women - wouldn't you say they are made up of young ambitionless girls who don't know what to do with themselves except to have babies and live off the state? I would say that's where the problem lies, not with independant women who choose (or sometimes don't have a choice) to have a job as well as a family.
I just say everything in moderation - a woman working 72 hours a week isn't going to have much time left for bringing up a family but a woman working 40 hours a week, whose husband does likewise or even less can bring up a family who share equal morals and a strong sense of responsibility.
I do agree with you that a family ideally needs both a mother and father though.
- Isabel, Woking, England
When money is god, children lose out.
Children and uber-capitalism do not mix - except to be exploited by junk food, sportswear and music companies.
- Rob, Bham UK
Just what has Blair done apart from feather his own nest?
- John, London
I would suggest that this problem is caused by feminism and political correctness more than anything else. Feminists and the politically correct have destroyed the family unit; they are the ones who foster and support the present non-responsibility culture; they are the ones that support diversity and gay adoption; they are the ones that support single-parent families; they are the ones who have removed child discipline, and this list goes on and on.
Essentially, to turn this problem we need to purge feminism and political correctness from educational systems and society in general and start again. We need to encourage more pragmatic men back into education, but you can not do that when political correctness is a deterrent.
Children must have a balanced life; they must have a balanced family life which includes a mother and a father; they must have balanced education which includes male and female teachers. We must stop the non-responsibility culture that the politically foster and support.
- Tezza, Auckland, New Zealand
