Guidance

The Family Test: Updated Guidance

Updated 1 September 2026

Overview 

Safe, secure and nurturing family relationships are central to people’s everyday lives and to national wellbeing. The Family Test supports the government’s commitment to effective, evidence-based policymaking by ensuring that the potential impacts of policy decisions on families are considered throughout the policy development process. 

The Family Test consists of five questions which should be considered when developing new or amended policies. Its purpose is to encourage policymakers to assess impacts on families explicitly and at an early stage, so that effects on family relationships and functioning, whether positive, negative or neutral, are understood before decisions are taken, rather than identified after policies are implemented. 

Applying the Family Test is both a moral and practical consideration. Evidence consistently links family stability and the quality of family relationships to long-term social and economic outcomes, including mental health, educational attainment, involvement in the criminal justice system and economic participation. Family breakdown and poor family functioning have a significant impact on individuals, communities and public services. Policies that unintentionally increase pressure on families, create perverse incentives around family formation or separation, or place disproportionate burdens on carers risk contributing to these outcomes. The Family Test provides a structured way to identify and mitigate such risks. 

The Family Test is applicable in England only and is not a statutory requirement, however it is intended to be applied to domestic laws and government policies across the Civil Service. This guidance has been produced by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to support policymakers across government. Departments are encouraged to integrate the Family Test into their existing policy development frameworks and guidance in a way that reflects their policy responsibilities. 

Supporting safe and nurturing family relationships is not solely the responsibility of central government. Wider public authorities and organisations exercising public functions may also find it helpful to apply the Family Test when developing policies, services or delivery models that impact families.

Background

The Family Test was introduced in 2014 then updated in 2021 following a review. In 2026, DWP completed a further review of the Family Test questions and updated this guidance following stakeholder engagement and feedback on the previous version.

Definition of the Family Test

The Family Test is a set of five questions used to prompt structured consideration of how new or changed policies may affect families in different circumstances.

There is no standard government definition of ‘family’. The Family Test supports a holistic view, recognising that families take many forms and that relationships, responsibilities and dependencies may vary over time.

The Family Test Questions

1. What impact could the policy have on family relationships and all family members’ ability to engage in family life?

Consider how the policy may affect day‑to‑day family functioning, relationships and interaction.

2. How would the policy impact families going through key life events?

Key life events may affect the family as a whole or individuals within it. Consider financial, psychological and social impacts during periods of transition.

3. How would the policy impact families experiencing a relationship breakdown, re‑formation or rebuilding?

A change to relationships can affect caring arrangements, financial responsibilities and wellbeing. Policies may affect these families differently.

4. What impact could this policy have on children and young people?

Family relationships are a key factor in outcomes for children and young people, including mental health, education and future opportunities.

5. How does this policy impact disadvantaged families?

Consider whether impacts may differ for families facing greater socioeconomic disadvantage or reduced resilience.

More detailed prompts are available at below to help policymakers apply these questions proportionately.

User Guide 

The Family Test should be applied as early as possible in policy development and revisited where policies evolve. It is not a tick box exercise, and not all questions will be relevant to every policy. 

Policymakers should consider whether impacts on families are: 

• positive, negative or neutral 

• short or long-term 

• temporary or permanent 

• relevant to different family relationships within one family 

Where potential negative impacts are identified, teams should consider mitigations and, where appropriate, record advice to Ministers and the rationale for taking policy decisions forward. 

We encourage policymakers to take a holistic approach when using the Family Test. This includes: 

1. Using relevant data and evidence available to them. A range of existing datasets may support completion of the Family Test, including: 

• Census 

• Family Resources Survey 

• Understanding Society Survey 

2. Reviewing departmental evidence used for other equality or impact assessments, which may also inform consideration of how policies affect family relationships and functioning. Using this evidence can support more effective policy outcomes for families. 

3. Working collaboratively with a range of government professions, including analysts and colleagues in local government or service delivery. 

4. Engaging with external stakeholders, such as academic experts or third sector organisations, where appropriate, to provide a relevant family perspective for the policy area.

Other Assessments and Duties

The Family Test may be considered alongside other assessments, such as the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) and the Child Rights Impact Assessment (CRIA).

If the policy is to impact children, then a CRIA should be completed to specify how and to set out mitigations. In the CRIA, policy makers should consider impacts on children’s rights as set out in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), an international agreement setting out comprehensive rights to everyone under the age of 18. The UK is bound by the UNCRC under international law but does not incorporate international treaties directly into domestic law. The UNCRC sets out that families, should be afforded necessary protection and that children should grow up in a family environment with an atmosphere of happiness, love and understanding.

Good Practice

Using family centred language (for example, ‘parents’ or ‘children’ rather than ‘households’ or ‘individuals’) can support clearer, more empathetic policymaking.

Publishing Family Test Assessments

Decisions on whether and how to publish Family Test assessments rest with individual departments, however transparency is encouraged. Publishing assessments, where appropriate, demonstrates consideration of both positive and negative impacts on families.

Family Test assessments may be requested through Parliamentary Questions or Freedom of Information (FOI) requests and should be handled in line with FOI legislation.

Help and Advice

DWP hosts a cross-government Family Test Network meeting to share learning, evidence and good practice.

For further information on the Family Test and how to apply this guidance or how to join the Family Test Network meeting, contact: family.test@dwp.gov.uk

Family Test Questions and Prompts

Question

What impact could the policy have on family relationships and all family members’ ability to engage in family life?

Prompt

A Family member can be defined by a wide range of relationships including but not limited to:   

• spouses: married couples, civil partners, partners   

• parents: biological, adoptive, guardians, foster parents, parents-in-law, grandparents, stepparents   

• children: children in care and kinship arrangements, adopted siblings, step-siblings, grandchildren, stepchildren, biological children   

• extended family members: uncles, aunts, cousins, siblings-in-law  

Families should be examined in the context of intact, separated and blended families. The user should consider a wide range of familial relationships and their ability to interact with each other and build healthy relationships. This can be impacted by a family’s accessibility to resources such as: 

• green spaces for children and adults to utilise  

• transport to visit family members 

• social amenities e.g. museums, cinemas, arcades, sports clubs, music groups 

• internet connection and technology 

• employment rights e.g. flexible working hours and parental leave and pay 

• childcare  

• housing 

• energy supply 

• health and social care 

Policymakers should also consider the roles of members of the family, with a particular focus on caring responsibilities. Caring responsibilities are not limited to adults and can include children-adult and children-children caring relationships such as older siblings with caring duties for younger family members as well as the role of young carers and non-dependent children.  It is also important to consider how the policy could have an impact on the mental health and wellbeing of all family members as this can affect their ability to carry out their role and impact the quality of their relationships.

Question

How would the policy impact families going through key life events?

Prompt

It’s essential that policymakers look beyond ‘traditional’ family units or households when thinking about family impacts. Various circumstances could result in members of the family leaving the family or household or new family members joining.  

Some examples of such circumstance could include but are not limited to:   

• moving away from family members (policymakers should take into consideration how the policy may affect family members who have moved away to a devolved nation) 

• those in education and moving from the family home e.g. school boarders and university students 

• deployment of a member of armed forces   

• pregnancy   

• children going into or leaving care/kinships/adoption/foster care   

• incarceration   

• bereavement  

• significant health diagnoses 

These changes could impact the financial stability and emotional wellbeing of both the family member directly impacted and the rest of the family. Policymakers should also evaluate how the policy could support or hinder families from continuing to fulfil their responsibilities in the family structure.

Question

How would the policy impact families experiencing relationship breakdown and the process of reformation and/or rebuilding?

Prompt

Changes to the family structure can be a result of relationship breakdowns and partners taking the decision to separate or divorce. Individuals may also take the decision to form new relationships and remarry. Both changes in circumstance can impact an individual’s caring and financial responsibilities or obligations.  

Some of the leading causes of relationship breakdown include: 

• financial problems 

• substance misuse 

• abuse 

• conflict 

However, these themes can be present in all relationships. Policymakers should consider victims and survivors of domestic abuse in policymaking and should assess how their policy may impact their ability to leave an abusive relationship and continue to support their dependants.   

Policymakers should also consider how policies will financially impact a family going through changes in structure.  

Relationship breakdown and separation can impact the wellbeing of all family members. Becoming a lone parent can lead to a greater risk of social isolation, which may be due to increased caring responsibilities, estrangement from friends and family members and increased financial strain. Relationship breakdown can also result in parents becoming non-resident, which can impact both parents and children. 

Policymakers should consider the emotional impact on children in the family especially when there is also the occurrence of frequent and intense conflict.

Question

What impact could this policy have on children and young people?

Prompt

The definition of children and young people can vary across policy areas and government departments. We encourage the user to define the age groups considered in their response and include their reason for this decision.   

 The user should assess how the policy may impact their social development as well as the wellbeing of children in the family or household.  

Policymakers should also consider vulnerable groups such as: 

• children in care 

• children in the justice system or who have parental figures in the justice system 

• victims of child abuse and child neglect 

• those who live in food insecure households or households in fuel poverty  

As policymakers, it is important that vulnerable children are protected, their issues are not exacerbated by our policies, and we go further to create better opportunities for them to ensure positive social and economic outcomes in future.  

The user should assess the impact of the policy on all children and identify whether it can contribute to the aim of providing equal opportunities of all children.

Question

How does this policy impact disadvantaged families?

Prompt

Disadvantaged groups include those who may face more challenges than the average individual based on:  

• poverty  

• geography  

• development i.e. SEND   

• level of education  

• characteristics e.g. race, sexual orientation, gender identity, physical disabilities  

The user should consider whether the policy would help the functioning of families from disadvantaged backgrounds, has a neutral impact or could exacerbate some of the challenges or barriers they may already face. Applying an intersectional lens is also advised.  

The user can also reflect on how the policy could be made more inclusive to create better opportunities for disadvantaged families.