A NORTH-EAST charity has published a manifesto calling for a national family strategy.
Launching the manifesto, Relate North-East's chief officer, Karen Wilkinson-Bell, said: "The policy ideas in Relate's manifesto, based on our 66 years' experience, will help improve and extend the accessibility of family and couple support services and help sustain relationships when they run into difficulty."
It calls for a major overhaul of health services to include relationship and family wellbeing.
Other priorities include relationship support for first-time parents, following research that said 75 per cent of Relate clients found their relationship in difficulty after the birth of their first child.
Ms Wilkinson-Bell said "We know that poor housing, debt and unemployment are major causes of relationship breakdown, and here in the North-East we face particular disadvantages. We need greater recognition and support for the role that agencies like ours play."
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