Admit it, Minister – children are unhappy because Governments have not believed in marriage
April 1, 2026
ON Sunday, Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson told the Observer that ‘we don’t know why British children are some of the unhappiest’. She blamed screen time and a lack of outdoor play. She described a ‘funny kind of paradox’ in which parents can track their children’s every move but are increasingly reluctant to let them go outside.
It was a striking admission from the minister responsible for children’s wellbeing – and it was almost entirely wrong. Not wrong about the screens, which are plainly a problem. Wrong about the ‘we don’t know’. We do know. The evidence has been piling up for years. The Government simply will not say the word. The word is marriage.
