Lone Parent Families - Action Facts.

Lone parents and their children now make up an important section of our society. Policies aimed at them will have a significant social effect.

How many lone parent families are there?

Between 1996 and 2004, the number of lone-mother families increased by 12% to 2.3 million
in 2004 nine out of ten lone parents were lone-mothers

(Statistics taken fron ONS.)

Between 2003 and 2004, the percentage of lone-parent households (with one child) was ten times less likely to be on the £500-£600 (a week) income bracket than a two-parent household with one child.

The highest percentage of income for lone-parents was between £100 and £200 per week. Whereas for two parent households it was between £800 and £900 per week. (both with 1 child)

(Statistics taken from DWP.)

Labour Force Survey estimates for spring 2005 show the employment rate for lone parents was 56.2%. This is an increase of 5.2% since 2000.

(Statistics taken from ONS.)

The UK average of lone-parent families is 25.58%
The highest proportion of lone-parent families is in Lambeth in London. Where 48% of families with dependant children are lone-parent families. The lowest proportion of lone-parent families was in the South East (Wokingham, Chiltern, South Buckinghamshire and Hart) with a percentage of just 13%.

(Statistics taken from ONS.)

The percentage of lone-mothers who are economically active has increased from 48% in 1992 to 57% in 2002. With 23% working full-time and 28% part-time. Compared with 31% who stay at home to look after family / home.

(Labour Force Survey, ONS. Available online at: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/statbase/expodata/spreadsheets/d6253.xls)

Nearly 2 million tax credits were overpaid in the tax year 2003-2004. Out of those, 353,000 were to lone-parents. The large majority of these overpayments have been made because of serious flaws in the Revenues and Customs systems. With no limit on the amount of tax credit presently, the amount lone-families are left with, while paying back over payments is well below the Income Support or breadline level.

(One Parent Families.)

The CSA has had endless problems since its launch in 1993:
In 2001, the CSA was owed more than £1 billion in maintenance payments, and had written off two-thirds as it was uncollectable.
In 2003 the new computer and phone system was launched. The system was flawed and technical problems led to only 4% of the 150,000 new claimants receiving a payment.
In 2004 the un-processed claims reached 170,00, with 75,000 being lost in the new IT system. The backlog was rising by 30,000 every 3 months

(The Guardian, 12/04/05, ‘Timeline: the CSA crisis’ available online from: http://society.guardian.co.uk/children/story/0,1074,1457948,00.html)

The amount of maintenance collected by the CSA has fallen by 2% in real terms.
The proportion of lone-parents receiving a first payment has fallen by a third.
The backlog of lone-parents waiting for an assessment has increased by 20%.

(The Guardian, 08/09/05, ‘CSA is ignoring failures.’ Available online from: http://society.guardian.co.uk/print/0,3858,5280362-110464,00.html)

More than a million phone calls in 2004/05 were abandoned as parents give up trying to get through to the CSA.
The proportion of lone-parents receiving a first payment dropped from 72% to 52%.

(The Guardian, 10/09/05, ‘Plight of single parents worsens.’ Available online from http://society.guardian.co.uk/print/0,3858,5281767-110464,00.html.)