House prices and relational capital

Quote

“Property is intended to serve life, and no matter how much we surround it with rights and respect, it has no personal being.  It is part of the earth man walks on.”   Martin Luther King

News

Research findings from housing charity Shelter state that nearly two million couples in Britain started cohabiting primarily to make housing more affordable, rather than because their relationship was ready for such a transition.  Furthermore, an estimated 1.8 million couples whose relationship has collapsed are still living together because they cannot afford to split up.

Since 2004 average house prices in England have remained at over 6 times median salary levels, nearly twice the ratio prevailing in the late 1990s.  A long-term, sustainable ratio is less than 4 if young families are to get on the housing ladder.  Consequently, first time buyers in London now have to save for 24 years for a deposit on a house, unless they have help from their parents.

For many couples, expensive housing combined with the high cost of weddings puts off the decision to get married, with the result that they slide into cohabitation and parenting without making the solid commitment of marriage to help them manage the risks and the tough times in their relationship. 

Alleviating these pressures on couples is right for their own sakes, but it’s even more important when it comes to their children.  Weak or broken relationships between parents tend to be magnified in the lives of their children, who literally embody the relationship between mum and dad. This is why divorce often leads to children feeling torn apart inside.

Whether they own their own home or not, the next generation will inherit the relational capital of their parents. Pressures that bear on the stability of marriage and family life now will make that generation either richer or poorer; which will it be?

Read on…

For practical insights into strengthening a marriage, especially with the pressures that a new baby can bring, read about a very effective couple education programme called Let’s Stick Together here.

Walk the talk

Where is the relational capital in your family under threat?  What might you do to build it up in that place?

The last word

From the Bible, Proverbs chapter 13, verse 22: "A good man leaves an inheritance for his children's children"