Just back from a live slot on GMTV at 6.13am! Well it was supposed to be 6.45am but just as I got up at 4.40am I received a text message saying be in the cab in 15 minutes. This does not work so well for me, but clean and slightly damp, I duly jumped in the cab and prayed that the make up girl could make me look less frightening. As always the subject is far more important than I how I look and a survey out today says that more people are cohabiting and parenting than getting married and parenting. Whats the impact of this on children? Well, I guess its part of evolution in a society where ease and the need for quick gratification is the order of the day. Plus the fact that getting married can be expensive and impacts on your income tax. But what of commitment, declaration of an intent to create a non-negotiable contract that stands up in the face of good times and bad? What of an intent to create lasting love? Whilst I know that a piece of paper announcing your union in law can just as easily be destroyed, is there more of an impact on children of cohabiting parents that split up, than from married parents who part? Legally, being married puts more pressure on the father's who leave to maintain their children and property, for example is equally shared. With cohabiting parents there is no legal enforcement and property reverts to the original owner at the time of cohabitation. This means that kids are more at risk financially as well as the emotional implications which would occur in either situation. I believe that women take the brunt of the impact as they are mostly the ones who live with the kids full time. In fact according to CIVITAS one in ten cohabiting women split from their partners within 10 years. Perhaps the statistics are much the same for married women though. Plus most cohabiting parents would tell you that as long as they are committed to each other and to their kids, whats the problem? They could well be right, but in a society where it is easy enough to walk away from a marriage thats past its sell by date, how much easier is it to walk away from a relationship without legal boundaries. So this is the question I pose today and I would be very interested in hearing any comments you have to make. My feeling is that all relationships need to be nurtured and fed continuously. None survive with out tender loving care. If people really understood how to make relationships work, perhaps it would not matter whether we live together or marry. But until I can give everyone the skills to do that, I think that marriage at the very least, makes people think a whole lot more before leaving.

Have a great day and get in touch - I want to hear your views!

Love Francine