The proportion of households containing a married or cohabiting couple and dependent children has shown considerable change over the last three decades. At the beginning of the 1980s around 30% of households consisted of a married or cohabiting couple and dependent children. This declined to 25% by 1991. In 2000, 21% of households in Britain contained a married or cohabiting couple and dependent children, with married couple households making up the larger part of this group.

Seven per cent of households contained a lone parent and dependent children in 2000. In 1979 this group represented 4% of households and increased slowly to 7% in 1993 since when there has been no change.

Table 3.6 shows these figures as a proportion of all families with dependent children. The figures show the same overall pattern as seen for households but with a more evident increase in the proportion of lone parent families. For example, the proportion of married or cohabiting couple families with dependent children decreased from 92% in 1971 to 74% in 2000, with a corresponding increase in lone parent families from 8% in 1971 to 26%.

As in previous years, in 2000 the majority of lone parents were women; 23% of families with dependent children were headed by a lone mother compared with 3% headed by a lone father. Lone mothers were more likely to be widowed, divorced or separated than to be single (13% of families headed by the former compared with 11% headed by the latter) .

These figures are reflected by the proportions of dependent children living in different types of family. In 2000, 75% of dependent children lived in a married or cohabiting couple family and 25% in a lone parent family compared with 88% and 12% respectively in 1981.

Twenty five percent of children were the only dependent child in their family in 2000.