§ Mr. RendelTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) if he will estimate the number and proportion of all families headed by a lone parent indicating how many children live in them, based on the most recent available figures; [55584]
(2) if he will estimate the number and proportion of one parent families headed by a teenage lone parent (a) under 20 years and (b) under 16 years based on the most recent figures. [55583]
§ Ms HewittThe information requested falls within the responsibility of the Director of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from John Fox to Mr. David Rendel, dated 19 October 1998:
The Director of the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has been asked to reply to your Parliamentary questions on lone parent families. I am replying in his absence.It is estimated that there were 1.6 million one-parent families with dependent children in Great Britain in 1996, with 2.8 million dependent children living with them. One-parent families formed 21 per cent. of all families with dependent children in 1996. Further details, including definitions, are published in Population Trends, 91, a copy of which is contained in the House of Commons Library.It is estimated that there were around 40 thousand one-parent families with dependent children headed by a lone parent aged under 20 in Great Britain in 1996, just under 3 per cent. of all such one-parent families. Estimates have not been made of lone parents aged under 16 because of the proportionately larger uncertainty associated with very small sample sizes.