Families
Married couple families still the majority
All families: by family type, 1996 and 2004, UK
There were 17.0 million families in the UK in 2004 and around 7 in 10 were headed by a married couple.
Although married couples were the main family type, the number of married couple families fell by 4 per cent (0.5 million) between 1996 and 2004. This decline occurred despite an overall increase of 3 per cent (0.5 million) in the total number of families.
Between 1996 and 2004, the number of cohabiting couple families increased by over 50 per cent to 2.2 million, while the number of lone-mother families increased by 12 per cent to 2.3 million.
Children in lone-parent families were more likely to live with their mother than with their father. In 2004 nearly nine out of ten lone-parents were lone-mothers.
Not all families have dependent children living with them. In 2004, 42 per cent of all families did not have children. Of couple families, 49 per cent of married and 58 per cent of those cohabiting did not have children living with them. For a further 14 per cent of all families, the only offspring living in the family were non-dependent children.
Nearly 40 per cent of married couple and cohabiting couple families did have dependent children. Lone-mother families were more likely to have dependent children than lone-father families, 73 per cent compared with 50 per cent.
Comparing the four constituent countries of the UK in 2004, the proportion of families headed by a cohabiting couple in Northern Ireland (6 per cent) was less than half of that of the UK (13 per cent). Equivalent figures for Scotland and Wales were both 12 per cent and England 13 per cent. All countries have seen a marked increase in these figures since 1996.
There were more likely to be dependent children in families in Northern Ireland than in the rest of the UK. In 2004, 50 per cent of all families in Northern Ireland had dependent children living with them compared with 43 per cent in England. These patterns reflect the younger population age structure and higher fertility in Northern Ireland.
Sources: Labour Force Survey, spring 1996 and 2004, Office for National Statistics
Notes:
Family: a married/cohabiting couple with or without child(ren), or a lone-parent with child(ren).
Dependent children: aged under 16, or aged 16-18 in full-time education and never married.
Non-dependent children: never married children aged 16 and over who have no children and are living with their parent(s)(excludes children aged 16-18 in full-time education). There is no age limit.
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