Radical with Amol Rajan Does Marriage Need Modernising? (Your Radical Questions with Ed Davies)
Mar 9, 2026
Ed Davies, research director at the Centre for Social Justice, studies family life, poverty and social policy. He explores how economic pressures and shifting norms reshape marriage rates. He discusses young men falling behind in work and education. He talks about new family forms like platonic co-parenting and the role of commitment, community and technology in modern relationships.
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Family Networks Drive Social Mobility
- Family connections are a major hidden engine of social mobility, giving poorer children access to jobs and work experience via relatives.
- Ed Davies illustrated this with a school roundtable: one pupil had an architect uncle for work experience, another only had a parent who stacked shelves at Tesco.
Poverty Is A Clustered Problem Not Just Lack Of Money
- Multiple interlocking problems—worklessness, educational failure, family breakdown, debt and addiction—cluster in poorest communities and sustain poverty.
- Davies argues cash alone (welfare top-ups) won't fix issues like abuse, gambling or language barriers that stop people standing on their own feet.
Coupling Patterns, Not Childcare, Affect Birth Rates
- Declining marriage rates drive falling birth rates more than childcare or housing costs; fewer marriages means fewer births overall.
- International evidence shows weak correlations between childcare subsidies and marriage/childbirth, so coupling patterns matter most.
