§ Lord Braine of Wheatleyasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will publish in the Official Report a table showing the total number of children in England and Wales who were adopted at (a) under one year of age, (b) between one year and five years, and (c) over five years for each of the last 30 years for which figures are available.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State Department of Health (Baroness Cumberlege)The information is given in the table.
Children adopted, by age at adoption, 1962–1992, England and Wales Year Age at adoption Under 1 1–4 5 and over1 All ages of children2 1962 9,214 3,872 3,808 16,894 1963 9,896 4,129 3,757 17,782 1964 11,506 4,699 4,207 20,412 1965 11,650 5,049 4,333 21,032 1966 12,308 5,611 4,873 22,792 1967 12,170 5,688 4,944 22,802 1968 12,641 6,313 5,877 24,831 1969 11,096 6,344 6,268 23,708 1970 8,833 6,776 6,764 22,373 1971 7,780 6,502 7,213 21,495 1972 6,593 6,421 8,585 21,599 1973 6,026 6,298 9,923 22,247 1974 5,172 6,148 11,182 22,502 1975 4,548 5,523 11,228 21,299 1976 3,608 4,216 9,797 17,621 1977 2,945 3,002 6,801 12,748 1978 2,816 2,593 6,712 12,121 1979 2,649 2,183 6,038 10,870 1980 2,599 2,090 5,920 10,609 1981 2,365 1,910 5,009 9,284 1982 2,177 2,162 5,901 10,240 1983 1,962 2,094 4,973 9,029 1984 1,836 1,935 4,859 8,648 1985 1,605 1,645 4,340 7,615 1986 1,572 1,748 4,496 7,892 1987 1,333 1,694 4,121 7,201 1988 1,235 1,975 4,099 7,390 1989 1,115 1,875 4,033 7,044 1990 969 1,871 3,688 6,533 1991 895 2,071 4,205 7,171 1992 661 2,270 4,409 7,342 1 Age 5–17 for 1973–1992; age 5–20 for 1962–1972. 2 From 1984, the total includes adoptions where age was not stated.