One household in every three is occupied by a single person;widows,widowers,bachelors and spinsters.The overwhelming majority of these people are not involved in sexual relationships and have no children.They are simply getting on with their lives contributing to the education and welfare of other people's children through the tax system.People marry for a variety of reasons.Seldom do people marry for unselfish reasons.The idea that married people,regardless of whether they have children,should be rewarded by a tax reduction,appeals to right wingers in the Tory Party ;and dressed up as it is in the guise of moral rectitude,is utterly nauseating.

Roger Walton, Pontyclun Mid Glamorgan, Wales

Supporting families is a policy it is hard to argue with but that is not the same thing as giving a tax break to married couples. That is supporting marriage. Marriage is heavily skewed towards the wealthy so statistics showing children of parents who are married (to each other) are more successful, demonstrate only that a higher income is helpful in raising children - having a marriage certificate is incidental.
I also wonder what will happen to those married couples who fail to keep their end of the bargain. Since half of all marriages end in divorce will people be asked to repay the tax break, since they have failed to provide the stable relationship they were given it as a reward for?

E Frankland, London,

It remains to be seen if it is a mistake. There is nothing wrong with supporting decency however. Mutiple and transient relationships shouldn't be considered when there are children involved. Children benefit from stable relationships and those which offer the longest tenure have a marriage certificate. That remains the truth. Rewarding it doesn't seem so wrong to me and those making the most fuss about all of this are the single parent, transient relationship people, who are not concerned about their children. Perhaps for the sake of the kids we should be ignoring them. Their greatest concern is the possible loss of state benefits which they all claim with alacrity and which give them a much better living than I have, working full time. It's time for a change in Britain. They need to get out and work like everybody else and consider the BEST thing for their children not what they want to do.

Judy , Liverpool, england