Births outside marriage

• The New Right is concerned about the rise in the proportion of conceptions and births outside marriage. In 2010 conceptions outside of a marriage/civil partnership accounted for 57% of all conceptions in England and Wales. 69% of these resulted in maternity (others were aborted). In contrast, only 43% of conceptions occurred outside marriage in 1990.
• The New Right is particularly concerned about children brought up solely by single mothers, as the lack of a responsible male role model is thought to correlate with juvenile delinquency in males, as well as being associated with poverty and other social problems.
• A counter-argument is that most illegitimate births are registered in the father's name as well as the mother's, suggesting that the child is likely to have at least some contact with the father. About three-quarters of joint-registered births show the parents living at the same address. Many may eventually marry or at least maintain a stable relationship while the child is maturing.