Part 1 of the Independent Family Review: Impact on Family Law Practice
The Importance of Family
As part of Inclusive Britain (the Government’s response to the 2021 Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities), the Children’s Commissioner for England & Wales, Dame Rachel de Souza, was asked to undertake a Review of Family Life with the aim to ‘improve the way public services understands the needs of children and families, so every child has the best start in life and the opportunity to reach their full potential’.
Part 1 of the Independent Family Review ‘Family and its protective effect’ was published last month and deserves some attention by the Family Law community. It is a research-led paper bringing together analysis from data collected not only from existing sources such as the Office of National Statistics and the Annual Population Survey but also including responses to ‘The Big Ask’, the largest survey of children ever undertaken, with over half a million responses.
The Findings
Understandably the paper which runs to 95 pages tells a complex story about the shifting dynamics of modern families. Cohabitation as an alternative to marriage is now a norm; more mothers than ever are employed outside the home; and there is an emergence of blended families with children living across households[1]. The Independent Family Review has sought to understand what ‘family’ means to people in this changing environment.
Remarkably the key findings demonstrate that the importance of family has remained consistent over time. The ‘protective effect’ of family provided through emotional connection: love and joy; shared experiences of family life; strong positive and enduring relationships and the ability to depend on one another for practical and emotional support shows that family relationships still hold the power to shield from life’s challenges.
Family Separation
There is no doubt that parental separation is a key life challenge for those children who experience it. Research undertaken by Professor Gordon Harold on Inter-Parental Conflict and Family Separation and summarised by the Family Solutions Group here is a useful synopsis of his crucial findings.
The question for Family Law professionals is how can we help clients to harness the protective effect of the family as it changes during family separation?
Impact on Family Law Practice
As Dame Rachel de Souza summarises in her foreword to Part 1 of the Independent Family Review: ‘The research shows it’s more about the quality of family relationships than the composition or relative position of the family in society. It’s about strong and lasting relationships, relying on each other and spending time together.’
At FLiP our practice is designed to help our clients create outcomes which sustain and build ongoing family relationships which will support their children into the future. Our work with the Family Solutions Group on the importance of the choice and use of language around family separation is one part of this conversation. Our new model, FLiP Settle, is another. FLiP Settle helps couples to work together in a way which minimises potential conflict by providing specialist legal and relationship support in an integrated and thoughtful way. It offers separating couples the forum to think together about what they want their future family relationship to look like.
Most separating parents would agree that creating pathways for children to have enduring, high quality relationships with those that love them most should be a priority. Quoting from the Independent Family Review, a Mum said:
‘Family is the most important thing in my life. When I had my children my whole life changed for the better, sometimes worst, but I couldn’t think of my life without them now.’
[1] As of 2021, there are 8.2 million families with children in the UK – 63% are married couples with children, 14% are cohabiting and 23% are lone parents. There has been a steady rate of increase in the employment of mothers and it now stands at 76%
family relationship to look; providing specialist legal and emotional support in an integrated and intelligent way.
Whoever you work with, creating pathways for your children to have enduring, high quality relationships with those that love them most should be a priority.
Quoting from the Review, Mum, Family Life Survey:
‘Family is the most important thing in my life. When I had my children my whole life changed for the better, sometimes worst, but I couldn’t think of my life without them now.’