Lone Parent Facts

One Parent Families Today: The Facts sets out the real facts and figures about lone parents and their children in Britain today and tackles the many myths about this group.

Part 1 looks at the characteristics of one parent families and how these have changed over time. It shows that:

There are an estimated 1.9 million lone parents in Britain today caring for 3.1 million children. Lone parents now make up one-quarter of all families.
Nine out of ten lone parents are women.
Over half of lone parents were previously married, and only 16 per cent of births are to parents who are neither married or cohabitating.
The median age for a lone parent is 36, and only 2 per cent of lone mothers are teenagers.
Thirteen per cent of lone parents come from black or minority ethnic communities.
Twenty-seven per cent of lone parents have a long-standing health problem or disability as do 19 per cent of children living with a lone parent.

Part 2 looks at some of the issues for one parent families:

Estimations of how often children have contact with non-resident parents vary depending on whether it is the resident or non-resident parent who answers the question. While 23 per cent of resident parents say that their child never sees their other parent, only 10 per cent of non-resident parents say that they never see their children.
Poor outcomes are by no means inevitable for children growing up in one parent families. Outcomes depend on a range of factors, including conflict between parents, parental involvement and whether children grow up in poverty.
Many lone parents and their children have experienced homelessness. One parent families are less likely to own their own homes than other families, and their housing is more likely to be in poor condition.
One parent families live on lower incomes than other families and are more likely to experience poverty. Fifty per cent of children living in one parent families are poor.
Lone parents receive no additional financial support on the basis of lone parenthood, and those living on benefits are below the poverty line.
Only around one in three lone parents receive any maintenance from their child's other parent.
Fifty-seven per cent of lone parents are now in paid work, up more than 10 per cent from ten years ago. Combining work and family can still be difficult for lone parents due to lack of childcare and flexible working, poorer qualifications, and the fact that work does not always provide a route out of poverty.
Living on low incomes means that lone parents are more likely to face financial exclusion and debt than other families.
Although most lone parents did not choose to bring up their children alone, they still face stigma and prejudice.

Part 3 sets out what needs to change for lone parents and their children. One parent families need:

a determined effort from Government to tackle child poverty;
more help with combining paid work and family life;
an increase in good quality affordable childcare;
a child maintenance system that works;
a more joined up approach to separated families; and
an end to prejudice and stigma.