Why marriage tax breaks are misguided

When the marriage tax break gets wheeled out by the Conservative leadership, it is usually a sure sign it is feeling nervous about its standing with backbenchers on the right of the party. Cameron’s announcement that a tax break for married couples will be a flagship policy in the Autumn Statement later this year may make for smart intra-party politics. But it fails an effective policy test on several levels.

First, it is a very poor way of targeting resources at families that need them the most. Since 2010, working couples with children are on average £1,100 a year worse off, and single parents have been similarly hit. A £150-a-year tax break will provide a very modest amount of relief in this context but only to two-parent families in which a couple has decided to get married. Why are these families any more deserving than, say, a family in which a lone parent has been left by their partner?

Second, promoting marriage is not the best way to improve child outcomes. There is a correlation between children brought up in marriage and better outcomes. But this is most likely as a result of having two parents with a stable relationship involved in a child’s upbringing rather than any evidence that the institution of marriage itself has an independent and positive impact. The money would be much better spent on relationship support services for families that would not otherwise be able to afford it, something which has been cut back significantly in the last three years.

Last, there is no evidence that providing financial incentives for married couples actually has any impact on encouraging people to get married and stay married anyway (a weekly tax bonus of £2.90 is hardly going to encourage people to get married if they weren’t already thinking of it, nor save a marriage that is breaking down).

Sonia Sodha is head of strategy and policy at the Social Research Unit at Dartington