Geographic Distribution
London has most lone-parent families
Proportion of families with dependent children that were lone-parent families: by local authority district, April 2001, UK
Families with dependent children
Among families with dependent children a high proportion of lone-parent families lived in London and other built-up and industrial areas, such as Glasgow City and Manchester, in 2001.
Lambeth in London had the largest proportion in the UK, 48 per cent of families with dependent children were lone-parent families, nearly double the UK average of 26 per cent.
Eight other London Boroughs (Islington, Southwark, Hackney, City of London, Lewisham, Greenwich, Haringey, and Hammersmith and Fulham), along with Manchester, Glasgow City, Liverpool, Belfast, Nottingham and Knowsley, all had over 40 per cent of families with dependent children headed by lone-parents.
Major cities had a younger age structure than the overall population. Lone parenthood and cohabitation are more prevalent among the younger population in Great Britain and so these family types are more commonly found in London and other built-up and industrial areas.
In contrast, the South East and East regions of England had small proportions of lone-parent families. In Wokingham, Chiltern, South Buckinghamshire and Hart, 13 per cent of families with dependent children were lone-parent families. In South Cambridgeshire in the East of England and in South Northamptonshire in the East Midlands 14 per cent of families with dependent children were lone-parent families.
Cohabiting couple families with dependent children were least common in Northern Ireland. There were larger than average proportions of married couple families with dependent children in Northern Ireland and in prospering areas such as East Renfrewshire in Scotland and Hart in the South East of England.
Families with no children
Proportion of all families that were married couple families with no children: by local authority district, April 2001, UK
In 2001 most Inner London districts and most of Northern Ireland had small proportions of married couple families with no children. The two lowest were in Hackney, London (15 per cent) and Derry, Northern Ireland (18 per cent). In contrast there were large proportions of families with dependent children (56 and 60 per cent respectively) in these areas.
Married couple families with no children were most likely to live in the South West of England and other coastal and rural districts in Great Britain.
Nearly half (49 per cent) of all families in East Dorset and Christchurch were married couples with no children. These are areas with high proportions of retired people.
Cohabiting couple families with no children tended to be younger and were common in London and other built-up areas. Out of the ten districts with the largest proportions of this type of family, nine were in London.
Sources: Census, 2001, Office for National Statistics; General Register Office for Scotland; Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency
Notes:
Family: a married/cohabiting couple with or without child(ren), or a lone-parent with child(ren). Cohabiting couples includes same sex couples. Families with no children either do not have children or their children no longer live with them.
Dependent children: aged under 16 in a household, or 16-18 in full-time education in a family.
The 2001 National Statistics Area Classification is used to group together areas. The term 'built up and industrial areas' refers to districts classified as 'Cities and Services'. 'Prospering areas' refers to districts classified as Prospering Smaller Towns and Prospering Southern England.
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