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About One Parent Families
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Annual Review 2006/07
One Parent Families has established itself as the leading charity providing help, information and support to lone parents and their children.
Our aim is to help one parent families overcome the isolation and poverty that many of them face and to ensure that their voices are heard. Public perception of one parent families is often made up of prejudice and stereotypes, but the statistics tell a different story:
- One in four families is headed by a lone parent.
- The average (or median) age of a lone parent is 36 and only 2 per cent of lone parents are teenage mothers.
- One in ten lone parents is a father.
- Over half of lone parents were previously married, and only 16 per cent of births are to parents who are neither married or cohabitating.
- 57.2 per cent of lone parents are in work; and many more would like to be.
- As their children get older, lone parents are more likely to take up work. In families where the youngest child is 16 or over, lone parents are more likely to work than mothers in couples.
- Lone parenthood is usually a transition period, lasting on average five to six years. Why do lone parents and their children need support?
- Nearly half (49 per cent) of one parent families live in poverty, more than twice the proportion of any other family type including pensioners.
- 42 per cent of all poor children live in one parent families.
- Over one quarter of lone parents care for a sick or disabled child.
- One parent families are five times more likely to have an income of less than £200 a week than married couples.
- Only around one in three lone parents receives any maintenance from their child's other parent.
For more detailed statistics on lone parents, see Lone Parent Facts.
What does One Parent Families do to help?
One Parent Families offers a wide range of support and information services for one parent families and those working with them, including: - a dedicated Lone Parent Helpline;
- training courses for lone parents and advisers;
- research and policy teams working specifically on lone parent issues; and
- booklets, factsheets and many other products.
Working together for change
Like all organisations, we are reliant on partnerships with others to achieve our aims. The following pages illustrate how, in 2006/07, we worked successfully with: - policy makers;
- lone parents;
- employers; and
- professionals and advisers.
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