The Decline of Marriage: Why We Need to Prioritise Family Life (Ed Davies)
Radical with Amol Rajan
BBC
4.5 • 919 Ratings
🗓️ 5 March 2026
⏱️ 67 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Marriage rates in the UK have fallen to historic lows, but what are the consequences?
Ed Davies, research director at right‑leaning anti‑poverty think tank the Centre for Social Justice, explains what has led to this shift and argues that it has caused a decline in family stability with profound consequences for society.
To deal with it he says we need to modernise marriage and adopt a range of policies that promote family life.
TIMECODES
(00:04:29) The decline of marriage in the UK
(00:06:33) Why is the marriage decline happening?
(00:19:10) Delayed adulthood and rise in autonomy
(00:21:52) Are there benefits to the decline in marriage?
(00:24:49) The consequences of the decline in marriage and family stability
(00:32:37) Can marriage be modernised?
(00:34:57) Feminism and motherhood
(00:47:04) How this affects the UK’s welfare bill
(00:53:37) The impact of Andrew Tate on young boys
(00:58:57) Ed’s radical ideas
(01:03:57) Amol’s Reflections
GET IN TOUCH * WhatsApp: 0330 123 9480 * Email: radical@bbc.co.uk Episodes of Radical with Amol Rajan are released every Thursday and you can also watch them on BBC iPlayer: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/m002f1d0/radical-with-amol-rajan Amol Rajan is a presenter of the Today programme on BBC Radio 4. He is also the host of University Challenge on BBC One. Before that, Amol was media editor at the BBC and editor at The Independent.
Radical with Amol Rajan is a Today Podcast. It was made by Tom Smithard, Anna Budd and Lewis Vickers. Digital production was by Gabriel Purcell-Davies. Technical production was by Dafydd Evans. The editor is Sam Bonham. The executive producer is Owenna Griffiths.
Transcript
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