This free monthly bulletin will keep you up-to-date with our projects and provides a listing of the most recent research and policy news concerning relationships and families.

You can visit iCOR - the online Information Centre on Relationships anytime for a regularly updated news board, conference listing, research and statistics on a wide range of topics and an online library of research papers from the field. If you would like copies of the iCOR leaflet please email ld@oneplusone.org.uk with your postal address and number of copies required.

thecoupleconnection.net was featured in an extensive piece in the Times2 this month. The article by Penny Wark focussed on online support for couples and featured details of our evaluation of the service which will be fully published soon.

Penny Mansfield, Director of One Plus One was quoted throughout and case studies from thecoupleconnection.net were used to illustrate how a quarter of a million users have been using the service since it's launch in 2008. To read the article in full click here or visit thecoupleconnection.net now!

This month sees the launch of our new site www.theparentconnection.org.uk - sister site of thecoupleconnection.net; this new site has been developed to help those parents who think they may be about to separate, are in the process of separating or who are struggling with issues associated with parenting after parting.

Our research When Couples Part: Understanding the consequences for adults and children published last year provided the evidence base for this new site and showed that there are various impacts and consequences of family break up.

Building on the success of thecoupleconnection.net in providing an anonymous, online, do-it-yourself relationship support service, we saw the need for a similar site but for separating parents
www.theparentconnection.org.uk provides users with a range of articles and exercises to help them better understand the issues that might be affecting the relationship they have with their child’s other parent. It also includes videos of children talking about their experiences of family breakdown.

The site encourages parents to establish a new parenting relationship after parting helping them to keep children in mind, understand the barriers that get in the way and gives practical resources that help move things forwards rather than problems becoming entrenched.

The site is unique in that it supports parents through the difficult process of separating and parenting after parting but can also be used by parents who are just worried about their relationship.

In anticipation of the General Election being called and following on from our work with Relate and The Tavistock Centre for Couple Relationships in producing the Relationship Manifesto our three organisations came together again to host a pre-election debate. Entitled Family policy - What are politicians really saying when they talk about families?, this was a lively and stimulating event. The panel chaired by Sharon Witherspoon, Deputy Director of The Nuffield Foundation included Dr Samantha Callan, Centre for Social Justice and former adviser to Conservative Party, Lisa Harker, Co Director of IPPR, Sonia Sodha, Head of the Public Finance Programme, DEMOS and Jonty Olliff Cooper, Head of Progressive Conservatism Programme, DEMOS.

The panel debated whether family policy is more central to political discourse and to the election campaign that at any previous time. Whether there are real areas of disagreement between the parties – or any agreed points of consensus? And what difference do family policies make to the electorate.

They went on to discuss how to weight competing principles e.g. prescriptions vs tolerance, universality vs targeting, rights vs benefits. And if helping the most disadvantaged families is a priority for all parties, or a nice extra which is now unaffordable?

For more information about this pre-election debate please contact ld@oneplusone.org.uk