IAIN Duncan Smith has accused the Government of “failing families”.

A dossier compiled by the Chingford and Woodford Green MP’s think tank, the Centre for Social Justice, claims more than 40 per cent of children are now born outside marriage and child abuse has risen by 34 per cent over the past four years.

Mr Duncan Smith said: “All the evidence shows that children brought up in two-parent families do far better in life.

“Yet under Labour, rates of family breakdown have soared.

“The time has come to recognise that stable families are the key to happy and healthy children. The time has also come to recognise that marriage is the cement that holds families together and is the essential foundation of a successful society.”

The document was unveiled on the eve of the publication of a Government green paper on the family, which includes policies giving greater rights to grandparents regarding access to their grandchildren.

It comes after Mr Duncan Smith's recommendation to the Conservative party that tax breaks for married couples should be reinstated.

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