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Single-parent families on increase, report finds

By Louise Barnett, PA
Published 11 April 2007, The Independent

Children in Britain are increasingly likely to live in single-parent families, according to a report out today.
Nearly a quarter (24%) live with just one parent last year - treble the proportion recorded in 1972.
The figure has crept up from 21% a decade ago and from 22% in 2001, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Social Trends report.

Lone-parent families are three times more likely to live in rented accommodation than couples with children. In 2005, 66% of single-parent families lived in rented housing compared with 22% of couples with dependent children. More than half (52%) of them rented in the social sector compared with 14% of two-parent families.

Lone-parent families are also more likely to live in "non-decent" homes, the report says. In 2004, 29% of lone-parent households with children lived in buildings which did not meet certain minimum standards compared with 23% of "couple households", according to the ONS.

"Recent decades have seen marked changes in household patterns," the report says. "The traditional family household of a married couple with a child or children is less common, while there has been an increase in lone-parent households." Since 1971 the proportion of all people living in "traditional" family households of couples with dependent children has fallen from 52% to 37%.
Over the same period, the proportion of people living in couples with no children rose from 19% to 25%.
The trend was driven by couples having children later and a rising number of couples whose offspring have left home, the report says.

By spring last year, one in eight people lived in a lone-parent household - treble the figure for 1971. Nine out of 10 lone-parent families are headed by mothers, the report says. And children are increasingly technology-savvy, with around 50% of eight to 11-year-olds having their own mobile phones, the report says.

The ONS Social Trends report is now in its 37th edition. It draws on statistics from Government departments and other organisations.

FACTFILE
* Nearly a quarter (24%) of children lived with just one parent last year, three times the proportion recorded in 1972;

* Lone-parent families are three times more likely to live in rented accommodation than couples with children;

* In 2005, 66% of single-parent families lived in rented housing compared with 22% of couples with dependent children;

* More than half (52%) of them rented in the social sector compared with 14% of two-parent families;

* Lone-parent families are also more likely to live in "non-decent" homes, according to the ONS;

* In 2004, 29% of lone-parent households with children lived in buildings which did not meet certain minimum standards, compared with 23% of "couple households";

* Since 1971 the proportion of all people living in "traditional" family households of couples with dependent children has fallen from 52% to 37%;

* Nine out of 10 lone-parent families are headed by mothers;

* Children are increasingly technology-savvy, with around 50% of eight to 11-year-olds having their own mobile phone.

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