Policy and Politics
More than two million parents raise children on their own
The number of single-parent families in the UK has reached the two million mark for the first time, according to new statistics.
A quarter of children now live in lone-parent families
Figures oublished by the Office for National Statistics on Families and Households, 2001-2011, reveal that in 2011 there were close to two million single parents raising dependent children in the UK, the equivalent of more than one in four families (26 per cent).
This number has grown steadily from 1.7 million in 2001.
Dependent children are termed as those living with their parent (s) and either under 16-years-old or aged 16-18 and in full-time education.
The majority of single parents are women, with 92 per cent raising their ‘dependent’ children alone and just 8 per cent of men.
According to the statistics, the average age of lone parents has slightly increased since 2001. In 2011, 45 per cent of single parents were aged 40 or over, and only two per cent were under 20-years-old, the same as ten years earlier.
The number of single-parents with two or more children remained stable from 2001-2011, however lone parents with one child increased by 18 per cent to 1.1 million in 2011.
The ONS attributes the fact that more women are delaying having children to the increased average age of parents and fewer children.
Parents who have never been married but are living together are also on the rise. The figures show that in 2001, 25 per cent of births in England and Wales were to cohabiting women, which had increased to 31 per cent by 2010.
Adrienne Burgess, head of research at the Fatherhood Institute, said, ‘Seven out of the eight per cent of lone dads are widowers. After all the campaigning for fathers such as the work of Fathers for Justice, the figures show that everything is still the same, which is pretty shocking. I don’t believe that 92 per cent of the best parents are women.
‘Unconsciously we nudge fathers away from children. Often the mother’s name is used in hospital and it is ok not to put the father’s name on the birth certificate. After the birth, health visitors only speak to mums, so are we surprised at the large number of lone parents who are women?'
She added, ‘However, it is not always the case that a lone mother is raising her children alone. In "mother-headed households", 40 per cent of fathers see their child at least every week for a sustained period, sometimes even daily. Often fathers have lots of phone and other contact with their children as well.
‘At the other end of the spectrum, 30 per cent are seeing their children rarely or not at all. However, this does not mean they will not see their child throughout their lifetime as the ONS figures are just a snapshot over a ten-year period.'
