§ Mr. McAllionTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what is his assessment of the number of single parents with dependent children in(a) Scotland and (b) the United Kingdom for each of the past five years for which figures are available.
§ Mr. FreemanComparable information for the whole of the United Kingdom and for constituent countries is not available. However, the estimated number of one-parent families with dependent children in Great Britain was 940,000 in 1984, 970,000 in 1985 and 1,010,000 in 1986. Estimates for earlier years are not strictly comparable. An article which discusses these estimates and gives the definitions used is included in "Population Trends No. 55 (Spring 1989)" to be published shortly. A copy will be placed in the Library.