|PIC1|The Catholic Church in Scotland has criticised the Government for its social policies against marriage as the latest reports reveal a rise in the number of one-parent families.

Just as Tony Blair unveils his latest plans to reform the welfare state, which many have criticised for contributing to the growth of single-parent families, the latest official figures have shown a rise in the number of one-parent families by a quarter since Labour came to power.

According to statistics published in The Scotsman, the official data reveal that there are now 174,000 single-parent families in Scotland, a massive 34,000 more than in 1997.

The latest figures also reveal that family breakdown is occurring at a faster rate in Scotland than anywhere else in the UK. While the rest of the UK has seen a rise in family disintegration by 17 per cent, Scotland has seen a 24 per cent rise.

|QUOTE|According to the Office of National Statistics, the total number of family breakdowns has risen from 1.6 million to 1.88 million since Labour came to power.

The Government will today release its long-awaited and twice-delayed Welfare Green Paper which outlines a number of measures aimed at helping single parents back to work and to find the necessary childcare, without which many lone parents remain disproportionately unemployed and dependent on benefits.

The Prime Minister stressed that the measures would also put the pressure on single parents to find work, although he seemed to accept some of the criticism that the welfare state has contributed to the dependency on social benefits among single parents.

"There are a lot of jobs out there people could do," said the Prime Minister. “We have to be careful all the time that people aren't encouraged to stay on benefit when they could be working," he said.

|AD|The Catholic Church in Scotland has criticised the Government following the latest findings, accusing the Government of “an inbuilt bias against marriage”.

A spokesman for the Church said yesterday that the new data support the cardinal’s criticisms: "Fiscal and social incentives to marry have largely disappeared. The benefits system has an inbuilt bias against marriage."

"The result is that we're left with a system where the state is actually promoting social instability and insecurity, and children are the ultimate victims."

The latest criticism follows a fierce attack on government ministers earlier in the month by the head of the Catholic Church in Scotland, Cardinal Keith O’Brien.

Cardinal O’Brien urged MSPs at Holyrood in particular to give “unequivocal support” for marriage, arguing that the homosexual lifestyle was “undermining values which for generations have been treasured”.

Cardinal O’Brien stressed that the family remained “the basic social unit” which should be recognised, protected and promoted a capstone of society.

“When our lawmakers condone and endorse trends in society which are ultimately ruinous of family life we are entitled to question their motivation and condemn their behaviour,” he told his congregation.

In December last year Pope Benedict XVI called on the UK Government to acknowledge “the indispensable role of stable marriage and family life” for the good of society.