Family Law expert Patrick Parkinson says days of the traditional family are in crisis
by: Susie O'Brien
From: Herald Sun
July 27, 2012
Nuclear family
The number of Australian households with nuclear families is dying.
THE baby bonus, couples who live together and shared parenting laws have been blamed for the demise of the nuclear family.
Family law expert Patrick Parkinson said the traditional family was in crisis.
Professor Parkinson questioned the payment of the baby bonus to teen mums.
"We are paying 15-year-olds to have babies? It's a sign of society gone mad," said the president of the International Society of Family Law.
"We have had years of decline of teenage birth rates, and now there is a reverse of this."
Prof Parkinson told the Australian Institute of Family Studies conference yesterday that family law was a "war zone".
He lamented the rise of children born outside of wedlock, saying marriage was important for family stability.
"Now 35 per cent of children are born outside marriage. And 12 per cent of children are now born to mums with no partners - and this number has doubled in the last 20 years," he said.
"We've spent 30 years saying marriage doesn't matter, but the reality is that cohabitation is not as stable as marriage."
Prof Parkinson urged parents to "work through their differences".