UK Taxes Stay-at-Home Parents More Than Almost Any Other Country

Britain is one of the worst countries in the developed world for families with one stay-at-home parent, new research has found.

After almost 14 years of the Conservative Party holding office, the UK has been ranked 26th on a global league table of 32 nations for its treatment by the taxation system of families with one earner and two children. The research, presented in a new paper from the Family Hubs Network (FHN) think tank titled “Parents don’t think the government is on their side,” gives the UK just 3.5 “Family-friendly Tax Points” compared to 193 awarded to the Czech Republic, in first place. This scoring is based on the assumption that British parents claim the marriage allowance of £252 per year.

Britain scored well below the Western average of 44 points. Rishi Sunak’s Tory government can only celebrate ranking above a measly six countries, including Lithuania and Greece.

Lucy Marsh from the Family Education Trust charity said this treatment, by preventing some parents from staying at home, could affect the development of children. She told The European Conservative:

The government is failing families in this country by penalising parents who choose to stay at home to raise their own children. Evidence shows that young children need their mother at home, particularly aged 0-3, as attachment bonding at this age directly influences how children deal with emotions and regulate their behaviour as adolescents.

We are seeing increasing mental health issues in both young children and teenagers in the UK, which is directly caused by family breakdown and lack of parenting skills.

Both Reform UK, which last week made gains in the Kingswood and Wellingborough by-elections, and the economically left, culturally traditional Social Democratic Party said this punishment of families with one stay-at-home parent should not be taking place under a ruling ‘Conservative’ Party—not least one which has been in power for well over a decade.

In its paper, the FHN called on Sunak’s government to put the situation right by doubling the maximum value of the Marriage Allowance to £504, as well as for a “fundamental review of how families are taxed.” Marsh, from the Family Education Trust, added that ministers “should invest in families by encouraging more couples to get married.

[The government] should also ensure that it’s financially viable for mothers to look after their own babies, rather than being forced back to work because they afford to stay at home.”

Families with one stay-at-home parent are taxed more in Britain than almost any other advanced country in the world.

Under a 'conservative' government.

SDP policies on tax, welfare, education and housing support traditional family life.https://t.co/chleFO59xG

— Social Democratic Party (@SDPhq) February 18, 2024

Tory MP Miriam Cates, who co-chairs the ‘traditional values’ New Conservatives group of Conservative MPs, told The Daily Telegraph that addressing the tax system would be both “hugely popular” and “the right thing to do.” But it is unclear whether this message will make it to the top of her party.