Sir Michael Wilshaw attacks 'hollowed out and fragmented families' Oftsed chief inspector said child abuse and neglect were the product of social breakdown Sir Michael described 'national obsession with pussyfooting around' The former school principal named Birmingham as one of the worst places to grow up in the developed world Sir Michael Wilshaw said bad parenting is at the root of Britain's problems Parents who fail to teach their children right from wrong are at the root of Britain's biggest problems, Ofsted's chief inspector has said. Sir Michael Wilshaw attacked "hollowed out and fragmented families" where parents suffer a "poverty of accountability." He said child abuse and neglect were not the fault of councils alone. Such issues were the product of social breakdown. Sir Michael warned that the problems exposed in child abuse scandals were being deepened by an apparent national obsession with "pussyfooting around" and "making excuses" for bad parents. He said many children were "alienated" from their natural father and that this lay at the root of the wider problems. "Some people will tell you that social breakdown is the result of material poverty - it's more than this," he said. These children lack more than money: They lack parents who take responsibility for seeing them raised well. It is this poverty of accountability which costs them. These children suffer because they are not given clear rules or boundaries, have few secure or safe attachments at home, and little understanding of the difference between right and wrong behaviour. If we believe that the family is the great educator - and I certainly do believe that - and the community the great support system, then we as a society should worry deeply about the hollowing out and fragmentation of both. He spoke as Ofsted's first report on England's 152 children's services departments found 20 areas where children are poorly protected. He said Birmingham was one of the worst places to grow up in the developed world. The city recently published a review of the murder of two-year-old Keanu Williams by his mother in 2011. His comments come after a review of the death of two-year-old Keanu Williams was published Why is it that nearly a third of children in the city live in households on low incomes? 'This is a city that should be nipping at London's heels for power, status and influence. 'Sir Michael said children's services had been undermined because one in three of the country's departmental directors have either quit or been sacked in the past year - 50 out of the total of 152. A spokesman for Birmingham council said: "This is a long-standing problem which we acknowledge. While we can only agree with the seriousness of what Sir Michael has said - indeed we have said it ourselves - we now need improvement rather than further diagnosis.