Support for All: the Families and Relationships Green Paper

This month, the Government has released Support for All: the Families and Relationships Green Paper, to lay out their plans for supporting parents and families. It includes plans for helping to prevent and resolve family breakups, flexible working for families, and more support for families who need it most.

Ed Balls, the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families said, "Families come in all shapes and sizes these days and the evidence is clear that stable and loving relationships between parents and their children are vital for their progress and well-being… The Government is strongly committed to supporting all parents, grandparents and carers in sustaining strong and resilient relationships.”

The paper sets out plans to offer stronger services for dads at crucial stages of their children’s lives, such as encouraging Children’s Centres to offer more services to dads and grandparents. Grandparents may also find it easier to see their grandchildren, if access is denied by a parent following a family breakup.

Other family members and friends who look after children will be offered more support, particularly if a parent is misusing drugs or alcohol, and families with disabled children up to the age of 19 will be offered extra key worker support and additional funding for specialist relationship counseling.

Families with teenagers are offered support in the form of online guidance from services such as this one.

In the same week, the Conservative Party has launched the family section of its Draft Manifesto, and the Centre for Social Justice published its own green paper on the family. If you want to know more about any of these, you can download them by clicking on the links below:

The Government’s Families and Relationships Green Paper

The families section of the Conservative Party’s Draft Manifesto

The Centre for Social Justice’s green paper on the family

UPDATE: We asked you if you thought dads needed more encouragement to use familiy support services, and a staggering 93% of you said 'yes'.