Our commitment to reducing parental conflict will give children the best start in life

Reducing parental conflict may not sound like an area that a work and pensions minister would be involved in – but the link between a hostile home environment and a child’s life outcomes is clear.

Parental conflict can be an environment of tension and arguments that can in reality leave long-lasting effects on the whole family’s mental health, especially impacting children – their school grades, early emotional and social development, and fulfilment in later life.

And as our latest research shows, the stressors heightening the risk of parental conflict increased during the pandemic – especially for disadvantaged families. The results come from a report of our £2.8m Challenge Fund granted to 10 specialist organisations during 2019 and 2020, demonstrating the increased need for parents’ relationship support.

That’s why our commitment to continue the multi-million-pound investment into DWP’s [Department for Work and Pensions] Reducing Parental Conflict programme into 2025 is welcome news. Creating healthier relationships between parents means better co-parenting and in turn, brighter futures for the whole family.

Through our Reducing Parental Conflict programme, we’ve worked to support parents before, through and after the toughest stages of the pandemic, adapting and learning how to soothe strained relationships so children have happier homes.

With £47m allocated to this work so far – and further funding to come over the next four years – we can, as part of our high-quality welfare package, support children of all ages to thrive through improving their mental health and home life.

Our programme understands the complexities of family life and since 2018, has been delivering support according to local needs in partnership with nearly all 152 councils in England. Through this delivery, we’ve gathered a significant evidence base of what works to calm conflict between parents, embedding training and tools into local family services.

Staff in health and social care, education and policing are just some of those working with families and stepping in early to help parents resolve conflict. This could be through their own expertise or by referring to more specialist support, including therapy-based interventions so parents can learn the techniques for good communication.

Moving to virtual support during lockdown has rapidly advanced the programme’s digital delivery. And we want to maintain that momentum by boosting online support pages, learning videos, animations and apps – tools we’ve already seen thousands of families access to guide them on how to handle heated moments. We know that local authorities are best placed to assess local needs and we’ll continue to support them to deliver as we build back better, and fairer, for families and children across England.

By extending the programme for another three financial years this Government is keeping a focus on reducing parental conflict for couples and separated parents.

Feedback from parents, providers and councils in our latest projects has been positive, with parents reporting new-found confidence in their ability as a parent, better wellbeing and techniques to cope with stress. And looking ahead, we’ll be focusing on supporting councils across England - from general guidance to more tailored support.

During our Challenge Fund project, one parent supported by our programme said, 'It’s not an easy thing to do, but I think it really helps, put the children back in the centre of what's needed and it takes the heat away from being about a relationship between two adults and more about a collaboration between two parents.'

Ultimately, we want our welfare safety net to look to the long-term, enabling every generation to have better life chances – and for children, the best start in life.