HC Deb 07 December 1978 vol 959 cc768-9W
Mr. Lomas

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) how many one-parent families there are in the United Kingdom;

(2) the total number of one-parent families, how many are widows, widowers, divorcees, separated, or single girls who have never married.

Mr. Deakins,

pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 1st December 1978; Vol. 959, c. 411], gave the following information:

I regret that, as indicated in the following table, recent information is available only for Great Britain and it is not possible to classify lone fathers as my hon. Friend has requested.

Estimated Numbers of One-Parent Families in Great Britain in 1976
Sex and marital status Number
Mothers
Single 130,000
Widowed 115,000
Divorced 230,000
Separated (married) 185,000
Total 660,000
Fathers
Total 90,000
Total 750,000

Further information, including a discussion of the difficulties of making regular and detailed estimates of the numbers and family characteristics of one-parent families in the years between censuses of the population, is contained in the September 1978 issue of Population Trends.

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