Marriage is still the bedrock of society which promotes love, care and forgiveness in relationships, an senior Church of England bishop has said.

Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu (pictured) made the comments following the publication of a report backed by the Anglican church which found one in 11 children was unhappy with their lives.

The Good Childhood Report 2012, launched by the Archbishop, found stability at home was an important element in making children happy. The study suggested children who had lived with different people were twice as likely to be unhappy.

“For me, marriage is the bedrock of society and I believe still is a gift in creation where the possibility of love, the possibility of care and forgiveness stands a better chance but that doesn’t mean other arrangements are completely void of human love,” he said.

But speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Dr Sentamu said it did not mean that having married parents was the only way to ensure a happy and loving environment for children.

He said single parent and same-sex households should not be stigmatised.

He said he was conscious not to discriminate against other family structures.

He added: “When I was a vicar, I said to myself, ‘Sentamu, do not actually stigmatise single-parent households, support them, be alongside them.

“‘Sentamu, do not diminish same-sex households, stand alongside them and be supportive of the raising of their children. Sentamu, do not treat co-habitees who’ve got children as if they’ve got a second-rate marriage. Sentamu do not knock marriage, support marriage because marriage is the bedrock really of society.’

“If I didn’t believe that, I would actually be diminishing a lot of people.”