New polling for the Centre for Social Justice reveals growing concern that the boundary between family responsibility and state responsibility is being eroded, with taxpayers increasingly picking up the bill.
Latest figures show Labour has committed more than £30 million to fund the rollout of free school breakfast clubs in the 2025/26 financial year.
But 86 per cent of people polled said it is the responsibility of parents to ensure their children have breakfast before school, while only six per cent believed schools should be responsible.
The Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) is launching a major new programme of research into the state of the social contract in Britain today, exploring what a new and fairer social deal should look like for the decades ahead.
From the intergenerational covenant between old and young, to the renewal of Britain’s left-behind regions, this work will examine how the bonds that hold society together can be restored and strengthened.
New polling commissioned by the CSJ reveals overwhelming public support for the principle that parents, not the State, should bear primary responsibility for raising children.
More than 90 per cent of respondents agreed that it is the job of parents to ensure children brush their teeth and are toilet trained.
Similarly, 85 per cent believed it is parents’ responsibility to ensure children behave well, compared with just 11 per cent who believed schools should take primary responsibility.
The report provides a timely warning to those positioning themselves to be the next Labour leader and Prime Minister following Sir Keir Starmer’s resignation. It suggests that the public want the State to step backward and let parents take responsibility for their families again.
The findings come amid growing concern among teachers and childcare professionals about increasing numbers of children arriving at school unprepared for the day ahead.
Reports have highlighted children arriving without breakfast, struggling to use the lavatory independently, suffering from poor dental health, and spending excessive amounts of time on smartphones and digital devices.
The trend reflects a broader shift in family life.
During the 1970s and 1980s, the vast majority of children were out of nappies by around 18 months. Today, the average age at which children become toilet trained is reported to be around three and a half years old.
Recent evidence suggests that more than a third of children arrive at school unprepared for learning, around one in four are not fully toilet trained, and a significant proportion regularly arrive without having eaten breakfast.
In response, the State has increasingly stepped in to provide services once regarded as core parental responsibilities, including supervised toothbrushing schemes, breakfast clubs and expanded childcare provision.
Yet the new polling suggests the public does not want childcare and child-rearing responsibilities outsourced to government. Instead, voters overwhelmingly believe that parents should remain primarily responsible for preparing children for life and learning.
The CSJ argues that increasing concerns about the declining rights and responsibilities of parenthood reflect a wider breakdown in Britain’s social contract.
Alongside concern about family responsibility, Britain faces a series of interlocking challenges: a rising number of young people not in education, employment or training; mounting pressure from an ageing population; persistent housing shortages; wage stagnation; and growing fiscal pressures created by the cost of supporting older generations.
The result is a growing sense that the promise of a better future for the next generation has been broken.
Dr Sebastian Milbank, Senior Researcher for the CSJ report, said:
The Government is pouring many millions of pounds of taxpayer’s money into initiatives like Breakfast Clubs but our research shows that the majority of people feel that parents should feed their children breakfast.
‘Yet thousands of children are showing up to school hungry, without toilet training, and unready to learn. A basic social responsibility is no longer being met. The message from the government – that the State can take on the burden instead – is precisely the wrong one. Most people do not think that schools, for example, should step in and teach young pupils how to brush their teeth. That’s a parent’s responsibility.
The research also found that the most fundamental modern social contract – that each generation should be able to build a better life than the one before it – is increasingly under strain.
Dr Milbank added:
An ageing population combined with falling birth rates means that each year fewer workers are supporting more retirees, placing increasing strain on public finances and public services.
‘At the same time, many communities outside London and the more affluent parts of the South East continue to struggle with weak growth, low productivity and limited economic opportunity. In some areas, living standards have stagnated for years.
The Centre for Social Justice’s forthcoming report will examine how Britain can rebuild that contract, restore personal responsibility, strengthen families and communities, and create a fairer settlement between generations.
Methodology
JL Partners polled a nationally representative sample of 3,003 adults in the Great Britain. The sample was quota-ed and weighted to ensure representative data on gender, age, region, ethnicity, education, 2024 general election vote and political attention. Sample collected using an online panel. Fieldwork occurred on 11th May – 21st May 2026. There is a 1.8% margin of error on headline figures. JL Partners is a member of the British Polling Council (BPC) and abides by its rules.
Click here to read the report.
