HC Deb 28 July 1998 vol 317 cc147-8W
Mr. Rendel

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many lone parents there are in Scotland; of these how many have children aged under five years; how many, of each of these categories are currently in employment; what proportion of the total of each category in the United Kingdom this represents; and what forcasts his Department has made of these numbers in future years. [52981]

Mr. Wilson

In Spring 1998, there were 173,000 lone parents in Scotland, of whom 72,000 were in employment. Of the 65,000 lone parents who had children aged under 5 years, 12,000 were in employment.

These figures are given in the table, which also shows the proportion of each category in the UK total.

Lone parents with dependent children by economic status and age

of youngest dependent child

Spring 1998 (not seasonally adjusted)—Scotland
Thousand As per cent of UK total
All lone parents 173 9.2
in employment 72 8.4
Lone Parents with children aged under 5 65 9.2
in employment 12 6.3

Source:

Labour Force Survey