What does the Tory party have against families?

Conservatism used to look to the individual, and just as importantly, to the family to cure society’s ills. That no longer seems to be the case. This week Rishi Sunak’s energy package for struggling households saw wealthy pensioners benefit the most, while those with large families and children lost out.

At present the whole tax system is rigged against traditional two parent families, particularly those who get married. Recent analysis conducted by economists at the campaigning outfit, Tax and the Family, found that a couple with two children need to earn more than twice as much as a single childless person to achieve even a basic standard of living. The same couple is likely to pay five times as much tax, largely because our income tax system takes no account of family responsibilities. Even welfare payments are stacked against married couples, with the few hundred pounds handed out to low-income couples through the Marriage Tax Allowance more than swallowed up by the couple penalties in our benefits system.