§ Lord James Douglas-Hamiltonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what percentage of live births in each of the last 10 years and in total were to unmarried parents in England and Wales.
§ Mr. John PattenThe available statistics for England and Wales relate to births which were registered as illegitimate and are as follows:
Year of birth Percentage of live births which were registered as illegitimate 1975 9.1 1976 9.2 1977 9.7 1978 10.2 1979 10.9 1980 11.8 1981 12.8 1982 14.4 1983 15.8 1984 17.3 1975–84 12.2