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)
