§ Mr. Shersbyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what has been the trend over the past (a) 10 and (b) five years of the number and proportion of households consisting of (i) married and (ii) cohabiting couples.
§ Mrs. CurrieThe available information which most closely approximates to that requested is as follows:
Great Britain 1976 1979 1981 1984 Estimated number of private households (millions)1 19.3 19.7 20.1 20.5 Estimated percentage of households containing a married couple2 67 65 65 63 Estimated percentage of women aged 18–49 who were cohabiting2 n/a 3 5 4 1Source: Department of the Environment
2Source: General Household Survey
n/a = not available.