Families and household
Fewer children live in married couple families
Number of dependent children: by family type, UK
The number of dependent children living in married couple families in the UK fell by 1.0 million between 1998 and 2008. This was equivalent to a fall of 7 percentage points in the proportion of dependent children living in married couple families, from 70 per cent to 63 per cent.
In contrast, the number of dependent children living with cohabiting couples and lone parents both increased, by 0.6 and 0.1 million respectively. The proportion of dependent children living with cohabiting couples rose from 8 per cent to 13 per cent, and the proportion of dependent children living with lone parent families rose from 22 per cent to 23 per cent. These changes were driven by changes in family formation and separation, as well as an increase in the proportion of births outside marriage.
The overall number of dependent children fell by 0.3 million between 1998 and 2008, to 13.1 million. This fall in the total number is largely due to changes in fertility rates between the 1980s and 2008.
Number of divorces and children aged under 16 involved in divorce, England and Wales
The number of dependent children living in different family types is affected by trends in family formation and separation. For many children, their family structure will alter over time, particularly when their parents start or end a partnership. In England and Wales, there were 136,000 children (aged under 16) involved in divorce in 2005. This was lower than the peak of 176,000 in 1993, but nearly twice the 1970 figure of 71,000.
There is a strong correlation between the number of divorces and the number of children (aged under 16) involved in divorce, and both figures rose markedly during the 1970s. Between 1970 and 1980 the overall number of divorces rose by 90,000 (from 58,000 to 148,000), while the number of children involved in divorce rose by 92,000. It is unlikely that this change is due to a change in the population, because the number of children aged under 16 fell from 12.3 million in 1970 to 11.1 million in 1980. If recent falls in the number of divorces continue, it is therefore reasonable to conclude that the number of children involved in divorce may also fall.
Source: Office for National Statistics
Notes: Dependent children are children aged under 16 or aged 16 to 18, and in full-time education, excluding all children who have a spouse, partner or child in the household. Some dependent children will not live in families, instead living in communal establishments such as children’s homes. Children in communal establishments are not included in this analysis. Not all children in families live with their biological parents.
Children involved in divorce includes children in the family and children born to the couple divorcing (children outside marriage, children of previous marriages, and adopted children), provided that they were treated by both partners as children of their family.
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