Single parents facts and figures

Single parent families in the UK  

  • There are 2 million single parents with dependent children in the UK (1) 
  • 1 in 4 families with dependent children in the UK are headed by a single parent (1) 
  • 3.3 million dependent children live in a single parent family (1) 
  • 89% of single parent families are single mother families, 11% are single father families (1) 

Who are single parents?

  • The average age of a single parent is 39 years (2) 
  • Around 9 out of 10 single parents are women (2) 
  • Less than 1% of single parents are teenagers, and this continues to decline (2) 
  • 33% of single parents are disabled, compared to 15% of couple parents (2) 
  • 80% of single parents are White/White British which is the same proportion as couple parents. 5% of single parents are Asian/Asian British compared to 12% of couple parents. 9% of single parents are Black/Black British compared to 4% of couple parents. 3% of single parents are from Mixed/Multiple ethnic groups compared to 1% of couple parents (2) 

Work, income and poverty 

  • 2 out of 3 (66%) single parents are in employment (2) 
  • 44% of children in single parent families are in poverty compared to 26% in couple families (3) 
  • 29% of single parent households with dependent children are in fuel poverty compared to 14% of couple households with dependent children (4) 
  • 36% of single parent families with dependent children have no savings compared to 17% of couple families with dependent children (5) 
  • 13% of single parent households with dependent children used a food bank in the last 12 months compared to 3% of couple households with dependent children (6) 

Sources

  1. Office for National Statistics (ONS), released 8th May 2024. Families and household dataset, using 2023 Labour Force Survey data, Tables 1,3 and 4. www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/families/datasets/familiesandhouseholdsfamiliesandhouseholds 
  2. Gingerbread (2023), Gingerbread analysis of 2022 Labour Force Survey data in ‘Single Parents in 2023’ report. www.gingerbread.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Single-Parents-in-2023-Single-Parents-Day-report.pdf 
  3. Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), released 21 March 2024. Households below average income: for financial years ending 1995 to 2023, Table 4.5. www.gov.uk/government/statistics/households-below-average-income-for-financial-years-ending-1995-to-2023 
  4. Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, published 15th February 2024. Fuel poverty detailed tables 2024 (2023 data), Table 21. www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fuel-poverty-detailed-tables-2024-2023-data 
  5. Department for Work and Pensions, published 21st March 2024. Family Resources Survey 2022 to 2023. Savings and investments data tables, Table 7.10a. www.gov.uk/government/statistics/family-resources-survey-financial-year-2022-to-2023 
  6. Department for Work and Pensions, published 21st March 2024. Family Resources Survey 2022 to 2023. Household food security data tables, Table 9.14. www.gov.uk/government/statistics/family-resources-survey-financial-year-2022-to-2023 

Statistics last updated July 2024

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